


The Chaos of the Stars

by willowaus



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Family, Friendship, alternate season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:13:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 146,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23666683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowaus/pseuds/willowaus
Summary: Nick sacrificed himself to save her, but Sabrina's not about to let him fester away in Hell. But what happens when saving the one she loves brings about a series of apocalyptic events that Sabrina and the rest of the Spellman clan need to thwart?Alternate part 3.
Relationships: Nicholas Scratch/Sabrina Spellman
Comments: 313
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I enjoyed season 3, I felt there was just a lot missing from it and I wasn't happy with Nick and Sabrina ending up alone. The idea of a different sort of events happening kept badgering me and I figured it couldn't hurt to share that with others who enjoy their relationship and the rest of the amazing characters.

no one  
wearing a crown  
comes  
in the name of  
peace

It always started off the same, in front of a door she didn’t recognize but seemed to pull Sabrina toward it with something akin to familiarity. Even in her dreamstate she recognized that it didn’t make sense for both to happen at the same time--how could something be new and familiar all at once? But that wasn’t the focus, what lay beyond the elaborately decorated entrance did. Power reverberated from it, drawing her in, almost as if it was calling to her. 

“ _Aperite portas mortis_.” She reached forward as the sigils spun wildly, placing her hands onto them. The movement stopped, the clicking sound of a lock being opened reverberating through the cavern before the doors slid open. 

Everything shifted then, now with her somehow inside the landscape of Hell, in bowels of the palace walls. “Nick,” she breathed out his name as she ran to him, dropping to her knees as she reached forward to cradle his face. 

The bruises were fresh, his lip split and the blood there still wet to the touch. He was shackled to the wall, thick steel cuffs locked to his wrists and neck. The stains of blood-- _his_ blood--were along the walls and floor. The room lit only by the torches of hellfire, giving everything a greenish-blue tint. 

Was any of it real? It _felt_ real, the agony that wafted off of him as he tried to open his eyes, that grunt of pain as they barely slid open cutting through her as though all of this was truly happening. “You have to stop coming here, Spellman.” 

The briefest of smiles at his name for her. “I can’t leave you here.” To be tormented and abused for eternity. For _her_. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen when he was taken by Lilith. He shouldn’t have been suffering for the pain Lucifer had caused the new queen of Hell. 

“He wins then.” His breathing was labored and Sabrina looked lower, frowning at the bruises to his chest. She wondered how many ribs had been broken this time. 

She pressed her lips to Nick’s head, reminiscent of all the times he had done so for her, trying to offer some sort of comfort. “He won’t win.” She would figure this out, would get him out of Hell, put the Dark Lord into a new trap. “I love you and I will get you out.”

“Forget me,” he breathed against her lips and she closed her eyes at that, forehead touching his. It was the same conversation every night, only the amount of injuries to him changing from time to time. 

“ _Never_.” 

They sat like that for a long time, foreheads pressed together, fingers interlocking as they simply took what peace they could in being near one another, this brief respite from the insanity that whirled around them. 

“As charming as this little tête-à-tête continues to be.” She ripped back from Nick at the change in voice, revolting at the twisting image before her. The Dark Lord’s features fought with Nick’s, muscles straining as he twisted in the chains, the fight for dominance happening again. She doubted it ever truly stopped.

“I am very disappointed in you.” 

She glared as Lucifer’s face settled, temporarily gaining ground. “Right back at you.” 

“While I do admire the spirit--a clear reflection of me--your punishment will be legendary once I am free of this trap, daughter.” 

A quick roll of her eyes, already knowing the lines that would come next. “So you keep saying.” 

“Might I suggest doing things a little differently next time if you truly wish to save Nicholas’ life.” Her gaze snapped back to Lucifer, hating the glee in his expression. _That_ wasn’t how this conversation usually went. Where was the list of punishments? Of how he would kill every last mortal and witch that she loved as her penance for defying him? “Continuously repeating your actions will get you nowhere closer to where you need to be. Especially if you keep ignoring the signs.”

She wrinkled her nose, not sure what he was talking about. She had no sway in her dreams. What happened there didn’t change anything happening in the actual world. And what signs? What was she missing? “What do you mean?” 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out in due time. Possibly even before Mr. Scratch completely breaks.” The chains shook, his fists going white from the strain as he grunted, a clear sign that Nick was beginning to win the battle again. “Time to wake up now.”

She struggled against the command, holding onto the last tendrils of sleep and intent on making him explain. “No, what do you mean? Do what differently?”

Lucifer simply smiled at her. She didn’t think she’d ever hated him as much as she did in that moment. 

“ _Wake up._ ”

Sabrina bolted upright in her bed, gasping for air. Salem mewed at the foot of her bed before making his way up the covers to curl up in her lap. She held him tightly, needing her familiar’s presence to ground her as she trembled. The only sound she heard was the ticking of her clock. At least the others in the house were asleep, none the wiser to her nightly escapades. Her aunts had enough to handle while trying to restore some order to what was left of the coven. The academy was almost habitable again and Sabrina knew once they could open the doors again that would alleviate some of the tension that had wrapped its coils around the Spellman household. The mortuary wasn’t built for as many bodies as it currently had living in it. 

Even if Aunt Hilda could manage to feed them all.

“Do what differently, Salem?” Nick’s haunted look was burned into her mind and she closed her eyes, replaying the conversation with Lucifer in her head. Salem purred against her, butting his head into her hand. She absently stroked his fur, trying to sort through the events of the dream in her head, the day before as well. 

Nothing stood out, but maybe that was the problem. _Differently._ He just had to be cryptic with his damn advice.

“What am I doing wrong?”

* * *

“Bad night again?” Roz asked, noting the dark circles under her friend’s eyes. The makeup did a good job of covering them if one wasn’t looking for them. But she’d noted the exhaustion that seemed to be slowly increasing in Sabrina since they had first sat at this same booth, working to come up with plans to get Nick out of Hell. It had been weeks and they didn’t seem to be any closer than when they had begun.

Sabrina rubbed at her temples, milkshake forgotten as she leaned back against the booth. “It was different this time, Roz.”

“Different how?” Roz glanced over at Theo who had leaned forward, elbows resting on the booth as they waited for their friend to explain. 

“You know how it's basically the same conversation. Nick telling me to forget him. The Dark Lord spouting a litany of punishments for defying him.” And round and round they went--trying to ease Nick’s pain and rebutting everything Lucifer said. Her friends nodded, their Saturday lunch temporarily forgotten. “He said I have to do it differently. That I’m not seeing the signs. But I don’t know _what_ those signs are or what I’m supposed to do differently.” Was it the dream? Was it the steps she was taking while awake? 

“Is it possible he’s just trying to get under your skin?” Theo piped up, nudging the milkshake back toward Sabrina. 

“Anything is possible with him.” It wouldn’t surprise her at all if Satan was just trying to screw with her mind. That was probably one of his favorite pastimes. “But I don’t think so.” 

She doubted that he wanted to be trapped in Nick, though the joke was on him if he thought she was simply going to get Nick out of Hell and separate them. Where exactly she was going to put Lucifer was another question she hadn’t quite figured out, but Sabrina was confident they would come up with a solution. The priority was getting Nick out of Hell and away from the physical torture that he was enduring. Because she believed those dreams were real and it wouldn’t surprise Sabrina at all if Lilith was punishing Nick’s body to get back at Satan for all she had endured through the centuries. 

“Do you want to talk it out?” Roz offered and Sabrina nodded, finally taking a sip of her melting shake. “Maybe if we all look at it we can figure out what needs to change.” 

They sat together, quietly going through everything that they did every day, but while the steps were similar there were also tons of differences. She tried opening the gate in the mines at different times. They had only managed to go once at night again because of the added security that had been installed the week prior. She went to sleep at different times, woke at different times as well. 

Harvey slid into the booth while they were reviewing the spells she had been trying. “Are we going to the gate today, Brina? Mines are going to close in thirty and I can’t guarantee getting you in once it does.”

Sabrina stopped writing in the notebook Roz had provided for brainstorming. _The gate._ She dropped the pen and looked at all of them, mentally beating herself up. “How could I be so stupid?”

“Sabrina?” 

“ _The gate._ In my dreams it's not the one here,” she turned the pad of paper toward them, showing the one she had been drawing. “I manage to get through it every time. But I can never get this one open.”

That wasn’t the only difference. In her dream, power reverberated from the gate there, pulling at her, entreating her to come toward it. She had felt that power when they had followed Lilith to the other gate, relinquishing Nick to her, but had she felt it since then? Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall. 

“Are the miners still feeling uncomfortable down there?” Sabrina looked over at Harvey, who paused at her question. Because they had used to. The negative energy of Hell had caused many a nasty dream and encounter within those walls before.

“Now that you mention it, my dad did say that the place seemed calmer than he’s ever felt in it before,” Harvey told them. He still hated going in there, reminded too much of Tommy now, but the overwhelming fear that he had used to experience was gone.

Sabrina slammed the notepad closed before falling back against the booth. “I can’t believe I missed that.” It was so obvious and it had taken the Dark Lord saying something for her to even realize. _Ugh_. 

“Um.” Theo started, raising his hand. “Exactly how many gates to Hell are there?”

“I’m really not okay with the answer not being one,” Harvey muttered as he snagged one of the fries, gagging lightly at how cold they had gotten.

“I have no idea, but I think I know who might have an answer.” Sabrina nudged him to move as she grabbed her stuff. 

“ _Sabrina_ , remember. Once you know how, we’re going with you,” Roz reminded her, giving her a pointed look. “We’re in this together.”

“Fright club,” Theo added and Harvey nodded in agreement. 

“You’re not doing this on your own,” he added. 

Sabrina smiled, grateful she had the three of them in her life. Things had been rocky but they had come out stronger for it. “I’ll call you guys as soon as I have my answer.” 

She headed out and turned into the alley beside Dr. Cerebus’. “ _Lanuae magicae_.” 

Dorian Gray looked up from his spot at the bar. “Ms. Spellman, what particular brand of poison are you interested in?” 

She dropped her bag onto the bar and sat down on one of the stools. “I want to know everything you do about the gates of Hell.” 

The Warlock paused at that, gaze flickering around the bar before he waved a hand, closing the doors and locking them. He set out two tumblers and reached for one of the bottles behind the bar before beginning to pour sizable portions. “I believe whiskey is in order then.”

* * *

Salem maneuvered himself between her legs as she walked the familiar pathway back toward the mortuary. He sought out her attention, but her focus was on replaying everything that Dorian had been able to tell her. Salem let out a yowl and she reached down, scooping him up as she pressed on through the underbrush. There was a possible way in, another gate that she could try and utilize that wasn’t too far away. 

The trick was getting _out_ of Hell once they were inside of it. Sabrina doubted that Lilith would simply hand Nick over and from all of the various texts she’d scoured through leaving Hell seemed to be a lot trickier than getting into it. If she was bringing her friends in with her then they needed an escape plan before going into it. It was one thing to risk her own neck, but she wasn’t about to do so to the three of them. In theory the spell she had managed to get out of Dorian as a safe passage back to Greendale should work to return them, but that all depended on how truthful the Warlock was being and Sabrina wasn’t sure how much she could truly trust him.

Making a good drink and throwing a great party, sure. Not sending her into a trap, well...anything was possible. 

“Maybe it would be better if I did this part on my own,” she murmured to Salem as he curled up on her shoulder, his purr dying off at her words. “Don’t give me that look.” Putting her friends in danger was the last thing she wanted to do. 

Her cell vibrated in her pocket and she fished it out, nose wrinkling at the sight of Roz’ name and picture on the screen. She nearly pressed the button to silence it but that would only cause more issues. “So I have the location of another gate,” she answered as she accepted the call. 

“And you’re not going alone,” Roz started, and she could hear Theo’s voice echoing the sentiment in the background. “We’re in Harvey’s truck near your house.” Sabrina shook her head at that. Of course they were. 

“I need to grab a few things from there and then we’ll be able to go.” A few measures to help disguise them from the demons that inhabited the depths of where they were headed. “You guys are sure about this?”

“We’re with you all the way,” Theo shouted and Sabrina grinned at that, not for the first time wondering how she’d ever thought she could manage without them. 

“What Theo said, Sabrina,” Roz confirmed. “You tell us what to do and we’ll do it.” 

“I’ll be there in a few.” There was a herb she needed to grab from the woods and then she could teleport over. 

They exchanged their goodbyes and Sabrina went to put her phone away when it vibrated again, Ambrose’s name appearing on the screen. She answered it quickly; his communication had been sparse enough over the last few weeks that she wasn’t going to turn down a chance to speak to him now. “You haven’t killed Prudence, have you?”

“And a hello to you too, cuz.” His voice brought out a smile from her, thankful to hear a lack of urgency from him. That was infinitely better than the last call where he’d been in the midst of a fight with some of Blackwood's men. “We’re in Romania now, heading down toward a village that has been experiencing some oddities.” 

“Any idea what he’s even doing?” She stopped in front of the flowering jimson weed and carefully worked to extricate one of them from the ground.

“Aside from working to gain strength in his numbers, no. But we’re certain we’ve located where he’s taken up residence now.” Just like they had been sure he had been in New Orleans and France and England earlier as well. To be fair, they had just missed him each time they got to the location. 

“I’ll let the Aunties know,” she promised as she stowed the plant into her bag. 

“You seem distracted.” She twisted her lips at that, setting Salem down on the ground before standing back up.

“I’m just getting ready to go out with Roz and Theo. Movie night.” Not entirely a lie.

“The horror ones don’t show on Saturdays.” Damn the town for their predictable movie schedules.

“We thought we’d try something different.” Also not a lie. 

“Oh what are you seeing?” She narrowed her eyes at that, starting back toward the mortuary with Salem prowling after her.

There was no use in even coming up with a name. He was probably googling the showtimes. “I don’t remember the name. Theo got the tickets.”

“Sabrina.” 

She almost missed how exasperated he could sound when saying her name. “Ambrose.” He sighed in answer. “I have to go. Plans and all. I hope you guys get him.” Because the longer Blackwood was out there the worse whatever he was doing would be.

“I suppose its too much to ask you not to anything stupid.”

“You know me, Ambrose--”

“ _Exactly_ , cousin. Whatever it is you’re planning--”

“I have to go. Take care of yourself. And Prudence too.” She hung up on him and turned off her phone, not wanting to chance him calling their Aunts and then them trying to reach her as well. “Come here, Salem.” She picked him up again, needing to get home and retrieve the last few things quickly. “ _Lanuae magicae._ ”

She breathed a sigh of relief as she was met with silence at the mortuary. That meant Aunt Zelda was still at the academy and Aunt Hilda was either there or had headed over to Dr. Cerebus’ for the rest of the day. Sabrina quickly gathered the last of the items needed, ignoring Salem’s mews for as long as she could. 

“You know you can’t come,” she reminded him as she stroked his fur. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” With Nick. Everything would be fine. 

He bristled at her words but butted his head into her hand, clearly not liking her decision. She scratched under his chin one more time before heading out of the house and down the lane to where the others were waiting.

They could do this. They _had_ to do this.

* * *

“You would think one gateway to Hell per state would be enough,” Harvey muttered as they headed into the woods surrounding Riverdale. 

“You know our luck is never that good,” Theo pointed out as they trailed after Sabrina and Roz toward the bottom off the mountain range. “At least we’re not playing them in a game right now.” So far the basketball team hadn’t been able to beat their rivals in two years. It was a bit of a sore spot. 

“We’re going to beat them this time.” If they managed to get out of Hell and attend the game next week. Harvey looked toward Sabrina and breathed deeply. She’d make sure they got out. They just needed to make sure that she got out of that place as well. 

“We’ve got this,” Theo agreed, and Harvey grinned at his friend’s confidence. It was infectious. They could do this. It was just a little breaking and entering, sort of kidnapping, and in Hell. What could go wrong? “Though, the whole wearing dead people’s clothes is taking some getting used to.”

Harvey nodded in agreement. Hopefully it would disguise them from the demons, just like the dead people’s shoes were supposed to help them step foot into Hell. It was still weird to think about and he wondered if their lives would ever go back to normal. Though, maybe it never really had been normal. He’d just never noticed all of the little oddities. 

“I think with a hat that could be an outfit you could wear when not on special expeditions,” he finally replied, grateful for Theo’s grin. Being able to joke helped cut through the tension.

They nearly stumbled into Sabrina who had stopped in her tracks, head tilting to the side. “Left now.” 

It took another ten minutes to find the beginnings of the cavern, their flashlights cutting through the complete darkness that settled in as they walked further inside. The hairs on his skin raised slightly as the overwhelming terror that had used to incapacitate him in the Greendale mines tried to work its way inside of him. He kept his gaze forward, following Sabrina and Roz further in, Theo at his side.

“This is exactly like the one I keep seeing in my dreams,” Sabrina murmured as the gate came into view. She looked at each of them. “We stay together. We get Nick and we get out. Alright?” 

It sounded simple enough, even if they all knew it wouldn’t be. “We got it, Sabrina,” Roz assured her, giving her friend’s hand a squeeze before taking a step back to stand beside Theo and Harvey.

Sabrina raised her hands, starting the beginnings of the spell. Harvey clutched at Roz’s hand, needing the contact to help ground him. Watching Sabrina perform magic was always a mixture of exhilaration and terror, though the excitement had been winning out more recently. Not now though, not with the doorway to Hell in front of them.

At first there wasn’t any difference to all the other times she had tried to open the gate back in Greendale, the discs on the door spinning wildly before they stopped. 

“ _Aperite portas mortis_.”

Sabrina reached forward and pressed her hands against the doorway. 

The doors opened, heated wind rushing out at them. They stood their ground, staring at the blueish-green light that flickered in the darkness. “Remember,” Sabrina started as she pulled the rope out from her bag. “We hold onto this always. No letting go.” 

They each nodded, looping a piece of the rope around their wrist before turning back toward the opened doorway. _Hell_. For all of the information they had gathered over the last few weeks none of them really had a clue what to expect. Harvey glanced over at Roz who seemed to be holding her breath. He reached over, giving her hand a squeeze. His family hadn’t been overly religious, but hers was and they were about to head into the last place a Walker ever wanted to step foot into. 

She squeezed back, letting out the air she’d been holding in. “We’re ready, Brina,” she assured. 

They all watched Sabrina take a deep breath, her back straightening as her determination took over. “Stick together and keep your eyes and ears open,” Sabrina continued before finally stepping forward. 

The three of them followed after her, heading into Hell.

Power enveloped Sabrina as soon as she stepped foot across the threshold and into Hell. She had thought she’d known power after her rebirth, but this was different, it was so much _more_ to what she had ever experienced before. It was a mixture of feelings, reminding her of stepping into her house back at Greendale mixed with a neverending rush of strength and light flowing through her. _Home_ , but not quite. Almost as if she belonged there in the blueish-green light that penetrated the darkness.

She wasn’t going to think too hard on any of that, her grip on the rope tightening, thankful for the way it cut into her hand just a little, letting the pain take away from the onslaught of power. They needed to figure out which of the nine circles the gate had led them into. All of the texts she’d read varied on how Hell worked but she had an idea of each circle and what it might entail. Hopefully they weren’t starting at the top when they needed to get down to Pandemonium which was said to be in one of the last ones. 

“Everyone good?” she asked, glancing back at her friends who nodded with varying degrees of assurance, before pressing on into the darkness. 

It broke after a few more feet, the four rounding a corner and stopping as they took in the sight of a giant golden palace in the distance. A city surrounded it, reminding her of images from old European strongholds that her Aunties had regaled her of tales about. _Pandemonium._ Well. That was lucky. Paths of hellfire cut through the black stone that surrounded the area, smoke billowing out of cavernous holes. Blackened stalagmite and stalactite jutted from the floors and ceiling, their edges jagged and sharp.

To the left she spotted a sea of dead, demons scattered throughout the crowd and driving the group toward the large, ornate gates. “Which way do you want to go, Brina?” Roz asked, all of them had moved forward, crowded right behind her, hearts pounding heavily in their chests as they took it all in. 

Sabrina scanned the area again, looking for something to help her find where they needed to head. In her dreams she had always just arrived there from the gate, skipping this part completely. She closed her eyes, trying to center herself and reached out with her magic, “I set you free to take me to that which I seek.” 

A ball of hellfire floated away from the rest, coming to float in front of her before slowly beginning to float toward the city walls in the opposite direction of the sea of dead. Sabrina raised her hand, tightening the loop around it and waited for the others to follow suit before stepping forward. The clothes she’d taken from the mortuary would help temporarily disguise them from being picked out, but she wasn’t sure how long that would last for. 

“Is anyone else getting a Sleeping Beauty feeling from this? When Aurora followed the light to the spinning wheel?” Theo asked as they followed after.

“Except we’ve got the cool Angelina Jolie Maleficent,” Roz pointed out and Sabrina bit back telling them to quiet down. She had a feeling they needed the jokes right then. 

“I think my shoes are disintegrating,” Harvey whispered and they all looked down, the soles of their shoes coming away with every step across what they realized was blood soaked ground. 

“We probably need to go a little quicker.” The wall was closer than it had been and Sabrina watched the hellfire disappear around a corner of it before bobbing back out to lead them on.

Roz cried out in pain first and Sabrina stopped, looking back toward her friend. “I can’t….I can’t...see. Harvey?” 

“Roz...your eyes,” Theo’s voice was barely above a whisper as Roz reached up feeling nothing but skin where they should have been.

She nearly let go of the rope but Sabrina reached forward, clasping her hand around her friend’s wrist. “It’s not real, Roz,” she breathed out, trying to sound reassuring. “Remember this place is going to try and screw with us.” 

“Tommy?” Harvey called out, looking out into the vast nothingness. There was no one there. He moved to step toward but stopped short. “M-mom?” Sabrina looked out and back at her friends, watching the tears spill as their eyes widened in horror at what they could see. “Why is she here, Brina? She shouldn’t be here?” 

“Harvey,” Sabrina started as Theo gasped, eyes widening as he spotted someone else. Roz cried out her grandma’s name, Theo said his Uncle’s and then someone else, before he started clawing at his face. She clutched at the rope, noting the way it slacked in their grips. “With this rope I bind you to me, keep hold until I set you free.” The rope tightened around all of them and she pressed on with her spell. “See no evil, hear no evil, step by step move forward as you put your trust in me.”

A calmness fell over her friends as they turned back toward her and away from the lies swirling around them. “I’ll get us out of here,” Sabrina promised as she led them forward, following the ball to a passageway on the side of the wall. A simple opening spell had the gate swinging open and allowing them access. 

Sabrina lifted the magic she had done to ease her friends suffering and they paused in the shadows, pressed against the wall. Theo bent over, throwing up while Roz slunk down against the wall, Harvey kneeling next to her. All three of them were breathing hard, looking as though they had run a marathon and barely come out on the other side. 

“Thanks, Brina,” Roz murmured after a few moments, all of them still catching their breath. Harvey was rubbing comforting circles against her back while Theo hugged himself tightly.

“It wasn’t real,” Sabrina promised, knowing that it probably didn’t matter much right then. It had felt real and she knew what that was like, remembering her Harrowing and how real all of it had felt. The pain didn’t just go away with the knowledge that one had been manipulated. “That wasn’t your mom or Tommy, Harvey. And your eyes were there the whole time, Roz.” She didn’t know what Theo had seen. “It’s just this place pulling on our fears.” Though it hadn’t drawn on any of hers.

They nodded and she didn’t think they had ever looked as young as they did in that moment, trying not to shake. She pulled the chocolate out of her bag, handing them all a piece of it. “It’s supposed to help.” At least that was what Dorian had said. 

They all ate their square, the small tie to Earth giving them a little strength to keep going. “Ready?” 

They descended down the stairs, following the ball of hellfire through the tunnel that seemed to be taking them to depths of the city. It took a few more minutes for her to locate the dungeon where Nick was being held. One more spell and she opened it easily enough, closing the door behind them. There was a collective gasp as they spotted Nick against the wall, the demon yielding a whip pausing as he took in the intruders.

“ _Tenebris somnum_.” The demon slumped to the ground, asleep.

“What is she doing to him?” Theo murmured, voicing what the others had been thinking. Sabrina had told them about her dreams, about what was happening to Nick in them, but it was another to see the warlock bloodied and broken against the wall. 

Sabrina moved right to him, pushing the sleeping demon out of the way. “I need the red jar,” she told them as she cupped Nick’s face just as she did every night in her dreams. He slowly opened his eyes as best he could, those bruises faded a little, though there were new lashings to his back. 

“You brought Harry,” Nick coughed, blood seeping out from his mouth and Sabrina wiped back his matted curls. 

“Nice to see you’ve still got your sense of humor.” Harvey passed the jar to Sabrina before taking a step back to watch the doorway. 

“You shouldn’t have come,” Nick continued, grasping her hand. He barely had enough strength to hold it. “It’s what he wanted.” That was barely audible and she had a feeling she was the only one in the room who heard it. The intensity of his gaze cut through her. 

“I’m not leaving you to this.” She wasn’t letting him continue to sacrifice himself. Not for her. Not for the world. It was a struggle but he brought his hand up to her face, lightly brushing her cheek. 

“Spellman,” he started again before dropping his hand. 

“This might burn,” she warned, sprinkling some of it onto the shackles and chains. They watched as it disintegrated the steel and Nick slumped forward against her with a groan, barely able to hold himself up. 

Roz and Theo moved forward, helping to get him to stand as Sabrina held out a hand, retrieving the knife that Harvey handed to her. “Are you sure about this, Brina?” he asked, wincing as she sliced into her hand and let the blood fall onto the floor. 

The ground shook as the droplets touched the tile and Sabrina could have sworn she felt a rush of power reverberate outwards, but she pushed that knowledge aside as she knelt down, utilizing her blood to draw the sigil that was needed. “With these words, I seek safe passage from this place. Blood to blood.” She reached over, swiping a bloodied finger against each of their foreheads. “Send us home.”

Seconds later they were on the other side of the gate in Riverdale, Theo and Roz holding up Nick. “ _Tenebris somnum_ ,” Sabrina whispered, putting him back to sleep. “That should last until we can get him into the protective circle back in Greendale.”

“After we carry him through the woods and to the truck,” Theo pointed out, which might take a lot longer with having to carry him.

“I think I can cut down on our walking time.” Sabrina grinned, indicating for them to hold hands before teleporting them away from the mountain and back to Harvey’s truck. It took some effort to get Nick into the back of it.

Roz and her settled into the back of it with him while Harvey and Theo took the seats in the front. “How’s your hand?” Roz nodded toward it, watching Sabrina cradle Nick’s head against her lap. She lifted it, there was still the stain of blood but the cut was gone, skin looking as though it hadn’t ever been sliced into. “Think you can heal his wounds?”

“At least the outside ones.” The inner ones he was still enduring were another matter. Sabrina focused on his body, eyes narrowing in concentration as she let her power flow through him, fixing his bones and skin. It would have to do for now. She turned her attention back to Roz even as she stroked Nick’s hair. “You okay?”

Roz slowly nodded, the look in her eyes reminding Sabrina of how Nick had looked the first time she had seen him in her dreams after Lilith had brought him to Hell. “I will be.”

Sabrina reached over and squeezed Roz’ hand. “Thanks for coming.” 

Roz squeezed back. “We meant it when we said we’ve got your back. Always.” 

“Always,” Sabrina reaffirmed, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. One task done, only about a million more to go. But Nick was breathing, he was _there_ , so whatever life threw at them next she could make it through. They all would.

* * *

Lilith pressed her lips together as she traveled down the stairwell. The wave of power that had reverberated through Hell, knocking her from the throne and sending lesser demons and the dead skidding across the ground, meant one of two things. Either Lucifer had managed to beat Nicholas Scratch in his dominance for power or Sabrina Spellman had been in Hell. Neither would mean anything good for her rule, or for Hell in general. 

The door to the dungeon flew open and she let out a low growl at the sight of the knocked out demon and lack of Mr. Scratch. Her attention was pulled toward the remains of the chains against the wall first, fear of Lucifer moving freely about Pandemonium settling in her bones. The punishment he would enact upon her for betrayal cutting to her very core until she saw the bloody sigil on the floor. 

Lucifer wouldn’t need that particular spell to leave Hell.

Neither did the other Morningstar who had drawn it. Not that the troublemaking witch would have known that. 

She truly should have known Sabrina would still manage to cause her trouble. Though perhaps torturing Mr. Scratch hadn’t been the best move to make. 

The demon was beginning to wake and Lilith whipped toward him. “ _Uro_.” He erupted into hellfire, destroyed within seconds. It would do no good to have him babbling to anyone else that Lucifer was missing. 

She sealed the door behind her as she exited, placing numerous spells upon it to prevent anyone else from entering. “The Plague kings are here,” one of her minions informed her as she set foot on the last step. 

Of course they were. 

“How wonderful.” As if the day couldn’t possibly get any worse. 

She would handle that group and then it seemed she needed to have a discussion with a certain witch and retrieve what had been taken.

Striding into the throne room, Lilith headed straight to the throne, adjusting the bone crown on her head before nodding to allow the kings their entrance. “You lied to us,” Beelzebub started and Lilith waved her hand.

“I left out a piece of the puzzle.” A little deceit was hardly worth calling out. 

“There is an heir,” Asmodeous continued and she bristled at that. 

“One who you tried to kill three times already so I hardly see what the matter is now.” The three squabbled quietly among themselves and Lilith tapped her nails against the arms of the throne, realization dawning as she watched them talk. 

They hadn’t known what Sabrina was; stopping the ascension of some half-witch/mortal justifiable with the sullied blood they believed her to have. But she was a Morningstar, daughter of Hell, and that was a whole other matter. She hadn’t known either until the end, simply thinking the Dark Lord had picked the child to fulfill some twisted pleasure of his, never thinking that he could have been her father. It muddied the waters, Sabrina’s right to the throne, to the powers of Hell far outweighing all of the sweat and grief Lilith had toiled through for a milenia because of the damn celestial blood running through her veins. 

The palace shook, a crack slicing through the floor and letting a mixture of hellfire and blood spill out onto the golden floor. “Hell calls for its master,” Beelzebub told her, his voice grating on her nerves.

She waved a hand, righting what had happened before motioning at the pristine floor. See, everything was fine. “She’s a child who has no desire to be here.” Lilith nodded toward her minions, pleased they stepped toward the Plague Kings, though she noted the pause of hesitation. “Dismissed.” 

“It will only worsen.” An eruption boomed outside as the three bowed mockingly toward her. “We’ll be back.” They turned and exited the room.

Lilith bristled at the movement, gritting her teeth as the palace shook again, cracks forming in the far wall. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to get Sabrina to crown her queen one more time inside of Hell to appease the realm and if that didn’t work… _well_. She’d restored the girl’s powers. Surely she could take them back as well.

* * *

“You’re sure this will hold, Sabrina?” Theo asked as the group looked at Nick laying in the middle of the abandoned hunting lodge. Sigils had been drawn all over it, a salted circle wrapped around him, with chains securing him to the floor. 

Sabrina nodded as she secured the last shackle to his wrist. “And no one will think to look for him here.” She’d cloaked it from tracking spells, obliterated its existence from maps. Only those who she had told about it would know he was there and they couldn’t show it to anyone else. Only she could. 

She stepped over the salt circle, careful not to disturb it. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she promised before turning to head out into the woods with the others. 

She faltered though, pressing a hand against the wall to steady herself as her consciousness was ripped from her. Vaguely she heard Harvey calling her name, the world swirling around her as she was pulled into another plane of existence. 

Nick was off to the side, clearly winded and she moved to step toward him but Lucifer blocked her path. She dug her nails into her palms, clamping them into fists, ready for a fight, but he was doing that annoying grin while clasping his hands behind his back. “I know you felt it.” 

She tried to step around him but he waved his hand, locking her into place. “The power, the call of our home to you.” 

“It's not my home.” Her home was the mortuary, it was Greendale and Baxter high, her friends and aunts, Ambrose and Nick. 

He continued on as if she hadn’t spoken. “All of them will have felt it as well once your blood touched our floor. Hell will never listen to her now that it knows you exist, daughter. And that chaos usually so neatly contained within its walls will spill over until you do what you must.”

She glared at that. “All I need to do is get you out of Nick and into a new prison. Lilith will do just fine with your domain.” 

He reached over, touching a strand of her hair and she pulled back as much as she could. “You can’t deny your destiny forever.” 

She pushed at the power keeping her locked in place, breaking free from it. “ _Watch me._ ”

Her consciousness rushed back into her body and she stumbled against the wall, Harvey and Theo trying to keep her upright. “Brina?” Harvey asked, and she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. 

“Let’s get out of here.” She needed as much distance as she could possibly get, to breathe in the fresh air, and work at forgetting anything about destiny and Hell as her home. Whatever he said to her was a manipulation and nothing more.

* * *

“Good, you’re home. You can help set the table,” Zelda started as soon as Sabrina stepped into the house. Her aunt was moving out of the foyer and toward the basement before she could reply, but Sabrina found she didn’t mind. Setting the table seemed like the most normal thing she could manage to do. _After_ she washed her hands. They had changed out of the mortuary clothes and back into their normal ones before heading back into town, but Sabrina still felt like Hell’s presence was all over her.

The rush of power still flowed through her veins, calling to her in ways she didn’t quite understand just yet. Salem demanded attention from her as she headed toward the dining room and she scooped him up. “See, like I told you, everything worked out just fine,” she murmured to her familiar as she held him close for a few moments, letting her magic pull the plates and silverware from the drawers. He mewed in response, obviously not believing her but that was a conversation for another time as she heard the stirrings of the coven throughout the house. 

Sabrina made her way into the kitchen and dropped Salem off on the windowsill before heading over to Hilda who was putting the finishing touches onto the roast she had made. “It smells delicious.” 

Hilda smiled at her, motioning toward various bowls that needed to be brought over. “Did you have a good day with your friends, love?” 

“We hung out for awhile and I talked to Ambrose.” She popped one of the cherry tomatoes into her mouth, grinning at her aunt’s pinched lips, a clear indicator to wait until they were at the table to munch on anything.

Hilda handed over the bowls of mashed potatoes and peas before picking up the roast. “Oh how is he? Where is he? Or was he unable to say again?” 

Okay, _good_ , it looked like Ambrose hadn’t ratted her out. Though that probably meant she needed to expect a call from him later tonight or in the morning wanting to know what she’d done. _Then_ he might be contacting their Aunties. “Romania. They think they might have found him or at least another lead.” 

They headed into the dining room, setting down the food as the rest of the coven began trickling in. “You heard from Ambrose and Prudence?” Dorcas asked as she sat down, Agatha turning her attention toward Sabrina as well.

“They’re okay. In Romania. No hurried ramblings this time.” They might not be friends, but Sabrina understood the Weird Sisters worry for Prudence. 

“Since we’re all here,” Zelda commented as she entered the room and sat down at the head of the table. “The rebuilding and resituating of the Academy has finished. We’ll be moving back into it tomorrow with classes resuming on Monday.” 

There was a rapidfire of talk after that, questions coming from all angles from the remaining teachers and students with Zelda fielding all of them. Hilda raised her glass as she looked over at her, giving Sabrina a wink. She knew that while her Auntie loved caring for so many that she was happy to get their house back to being just their home again. 

The meal went by without anything dramatic happening and Sabrina cleared her plate before gathering up Salem and heading upstairs to finally take a bath and clean the last remnants of Hell off her body. Her familiar leapt out of her arms as soon as she opened the door, back arched and ears flattening as he hissed at the intruder in her room.

Lilith stood by her dresser, strumming her fingers along the wood. “It appears we need to have a chat.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading, everyone. I'm hoping to update twice a week. I try to always have the next chapter pretty much completed before posting anything. So next one should go up Tuesday/Wednesday.

_Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.  
It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”_

Sabrina closed the door behind her and motioned for Salem to step backward as she watched the other woman. She realized she had no idea what Lilith looked like in her natural form, and was surprised to see the Mother of Monsters still in the skin of her favorite teacher. “Why do you still look like Ms. Wardwell?”

Didn’t she have her own form to return to? Plus Ms. Wardwell was back in Greendale. She’d just seen her yesterday at Baxter high during class. 

“I’ve found I appreciate this form,” Lilith replied, shrugging slightly. The one she’d held for so many centuries had been a foot soldier, Lucifer’s concubine, and looked down on by the rest of Hell’s aristocracy. In this form she had turned it all asunder, usurped the throne, and won. Why get rid of it when it was working so well for her? Or _had_ been anyway.

Lilith sat down on the bed and patted a spot near her. “It appears you’ve broken into Hell and taken something from me. And here I thought we’d left everything on good terms. That we had an understanding.” 

Sabrina crossed her arms, holding fast to her spot on the floor. “It’s not breaking and entering if the door slides open for you. And you were _torturing_ him. Repeatedly. _Daily_ even.”

 _Teenagers_. She truly hadn’t missed their dramatics. Lilith attempted to appear contrite about that. “I might have gotten a little carried away with my revenge.” 

“It’s _Nick_ who you were hurting. Not the Dark Lord. He probably found it hilarious.” Sabrina knew he was pleased that it had been happening, confident that breaking Nick’s body would help quicken his ability to break her boyfriend’s mind. “I’m not giving him back.”

She had trusted Lilith to keep him safe and that obviously hadn’t been the right call; she wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. “So if that’s why you’re here then you’re just wasting your time. You can have Lucifer back once I have him a different body.”

Lilith glared at that, annoyed with the child’s audacity to try and give her stipulations. Was she not the one who had restored the powers that Sabrina had so easily given away? She muttered her spell, working to undo that bit of nicety and strip the girl again There was no siphoning as should have occurred. Instead she felt the pull of Sabrina’s abilities, so close now to the level that had always encompassed the Dark Lord whenever she was around him. 

There went plan A. 

“What was that?” Sabrina asked, glancing over at Salem who was growling low, still looking ready to attack. Maybe she should let him.

“Your little adventure into Hell has upset the nature of it, the balance needed to keep the entirety of it under control,” Lilith started, looking down at her nails. They had been perfectly filed and adorned, but one of them had cracked. 

It wasn’t what Sabrina had wanted to hear; far too similar to what Lucifer had told her and she prefered thinking everything that came out of his mouth was a lie.. “Can’t you rebalance it?”

Lilith looked up, gesturing with her hands in a manner that she hoped seemed even slightly caring. If Sabrina’s arched brow was any indication it wasn’t working. “I’m working on that, but I believe you returning and crowning me Queen will help alleviate the imbalance that is brewing.”

“I already did that. I don’t want the throne. I want nothing to do with that place.” She definitely didn’t want to go into it again. 

“Hell is cracking. Your little _antics_ have informed it of your existence.” Lilith gritted her teeth even as she attempted a smile. If the little witch had only stayed away as Lilith had asked there wouldn’t have been an issue. “With Lucifer incapacitated it looks to the next Morningstar to make decisions.” 

Sabrina stiffened at that. “I’m a Spellman, not a Morningstar.”

Lilith waved her hand at that. “Semantics.” Though it was definitely helpful to see how much Sabrina seemed to detest the name. Less chance of the girl working to usurp her. “You declaring me Queen there, in Pandemonium, should be enough to appease it.” And get the Plague Kings off her back. 

Sabrina didn’t reply right away, lips pursed as she took in everything that had been said. “And that’s it?” 

This time Lilith’s smile was genuine, which probably only made it worse to see. “That’s it.”

Sabrina nodded and Lilith nearly rose, holding back a sigh as the girl continued, “I do this and you leave me, my friends, my family, _Nick_ alone.” 

It was Lilith’s turn to nod as she finally did stand. “You do this and I’ll return you to Greendale and never again will our paths need to meet. Until you send Lucifer back in this new body you have available.”

Sabrina shifted on her feet.“I’m working on it.”

“I’ll be back in three days.” Lilith side stepped around Salem to stand in front of Sabrina.

“Why can’t we just get this over with now?” A lot could happen in three days. Like her aunts learning of this insanity before she could follow through with it.

“Sabrina.” There was an edge to Lilith’s voice, one that reminded Sabrina of when she was younger and her teacher’s were impatiently trying to impart some wisdom or another on her. “You're the princess of Hell coming to crown me Queen. There are certain pagentries that need to be in order before that can happen.”

 _Princess of Hell._ It wasn’t a label she wanted. “Fine. Just let me know when.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Lilith stepped back before disappearing in a swirl of hellfire. 

Salem hissed at the spot she’d been in before looking back over at Sabrina and meowing softly. She scooped him up before letting out a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was go back into Hell. Stepping inside of it had brought about a euphoria that she hadn’t experienced before, supercharging her to a degree that Sabrina hadn’t thought possible. Every nerve ending had felt alive, her senses on overdrive. She still felt a draw to it, even miles away from the nearest opening. 

Reaching out she turned her palm upward and swallowed hard as a ball of hellfire appeared above it. The fire swirled as it had for her as it had before and Salem leapt from her arms, moving to perch at the foot of her bed. She closed her hand, the fire ceasing to exist, and caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Blood red eyes.

Sabrina blinked, thankful that image was gone when she looked again, her eyes returning to normal. 

She glanced over at Salem and took a deep breath.

It was definitely time for that bath.

* * *

The coven stood before the Academy, staring up at the carved words--Gehenna Station--before turning their attention toward Zelda, waiting for her to give the signal to enter. They had nearly died a few times over inside of it--first by angels and then by their former High Priest, but it was home for many of them, a sanctuary from the world at large, and Zelda meant for it to be that refuge again. “Well, don’t just dally,” she started, motioning for them to ascend the stairs. She looked toward the children. “I believe I can trust all of you enough to decide upon which room will be yours.” 

They would be getting rid of Blackwood’s ridiculous notion that the witches needed to share while the warlocks were allowed their own private quarters. Their numbers would improve if Zelda had anything to say about it, but the falsities of his guidance over the last decade or so would be stripped free and this coven would become the prestigious one it had been before he’d gotten his claws into it. 

“Edward would have approved,” Zelda murmured once only Hilda, Sabrina and her remained outside. 

“Does that mean we’re going to be spreading my father’s message?” Sabrina shifted on her feet, unable to squash down the excitement running through her. Witches and mortals interacting without the fear and hate that had encircled them for ages. 

Zelda arched a brow at that, wishing she’d had one of her cigarettes. Later. “One thing at a time, Sabrina. We still need to figure out who it is we’re worshiping now.” 

“ _Not_ the Dark Lord.” Her nails cut into her palm as Sabrina looked over at her aunt, needing that reassurance.

“Certainly not.” Zelda cringed at the thought of it. “He’s more than proven that he never deserved our love.” His despicable designs on her niece had truly been the last straw. No one messed with her family. 

“Maybe Lilith? She is the one in charge down there now,” Hilda suggested and Zelda nodded, mulling over the idea. She noted that Sabrina seemed to squirm at the idea and catalogued to look further into that later. 

They had been so busy with the coven that Zelda felt a bit as though they had neglected the girl lately. She had been through quite the ordeal but Sabrina was a Spellman and seemed to have come out of it stronger than ever. She reached over, tucking a strand of hair behind her niece’s ear. “He would be proud of you.”

Sabrina looked over at her then. “Edward. Your father,” Zelda continued, letting her hand rest for a moment against her niece’s shoulder before looking back at the school. “Right. You both remember your assignments.” 

Hilda arched her brows as she looked over at Sabrina, offering up a grin as they watched Zelda start up the stairs. The reciprocated smile didn’t quite match the same mirth. “I’m going to go check the ghost children first,” Sabrina reminded her aunts before turning to head off into the school’s grounds. 

Zelda paused on the top step, Hilda stopping beside her. “She’s hiding something,” Hilda started as they watched their niece disappear into the forest. 

Indeed. Sabrina was rarely this compliant. “We’ll talk with her tonight.” With the coven safely back at the Academy they should be able to have a proper Spellman nightcap and get the girl to reveal what was going on.

First, they had their wayward coven to settle in. Hopefully Sabrina would manage to refrain from getting into too much trouble before then. 

“Lilith help us,” Hilda murmured, before heading after Zelda into the school.

* * *

Sabrina had checked on the ghost children first, pleased to see that Quentin and the others had been watching out for the school over the last few weeks. They were happy to have everyone move back in and she’d promised she would come see them again soon. With that task completed she knew she had a few hours before either of her aunts would be looking for her and had snuck off to check on Nick. 

She had no idea what Lilith had been doing to keep him alive, or if she’d even needed to do so in Hell, but Sabrina had saved some of the breakfast from earlier and put together sandwiches as well to share with him. There had been no dream escapades the night before, nothing drawing her to their nightly meetings, and she’d woken missing him. It had been the only way to keep in contact with him before, but he was Earthside now and she wasn’t going to let him fester away with only Lucifer’s torment for company.

Love conquered all, wasn’t that the saying? Sabrina hoped that her being there for him would give Nick the strength to keep fighting until she could enact the next part of Operation Save Nick. They just needed to wait a few more days for the mandrakes to be ready.

Her heart clenched at the sight of him curled in the fetal position, sweat beading his forehead. “I have new clothes for you.” The ones they had gotten him into the night before had been the one’s Harvey had worn into Hell. “And some things to eat. Aunt Hilda made them, not me.” 

She stepped across the circle, careful not to disrupt it as he sat up. “Sabrina,” he breathed out her name, his voice hoarse, and she pulled the bottle of water out from her bag, handing it to him. 

He struggled with the cap for a moment and she nearly offered to help before settling down beside him as he slowly gulped it down. She laid her hand on his thigh, needing the contact with him to know that he truly was there, that she’d succeeded in at least part one of the plan. He gripped her hand tightly, entwining their fingers together as he set the empty bottle down. 

“How are you?” It seemed like such an asinine question to ask. He might not be enduring physcial torture any longer but she knew the wrestle for control inside of his mind was still occuring. 

Nick leaned forward until their foreheads touched, bringing his free hand up to brush against her cheek. “He’s not going to win.” 

“I wasn’t sure what we were going to do at first. We know the acheron doesn’t work, that a human body is needed. But then I thought about what…” Nick squeezed her hand, shaking his head. 

“Don’t tell me, Spellman.” The last thing they needed was his current passenger knowing any part of it.

It was a good point and she nodded, linking their fingers on his other hand as well. “I’m sorry I didn’t figure out the gate part sooner.” She should have got the point of it being different after that first dream. It was so obvious when she looked back at it. 

Nick pressed a kiss to her forehead, lifting their hands to wipe at the tears that slid down her cheeks. “He wanted you to come. He manipulated your dreams so you did every night.” 

Good. It meant she got to see him, to figure out how to get him out of that damnable place. Nick groaned, shutting his eyes tightly as his back arched, the muscles in his body tightening. “Is my being here making it worse?” She didn’t want to be the cause of any more of his pain. 

“No.” He shook his head. “Seeing you is the only good thing right now.” He clenched his teeth then and she cupped his face with her hands, trying to offer whatever strength she could. His hands settled over hers and he looked at her then, his gaze intense and full of worry. “I’m not letting him get you, Sabrina. He has so many plans.” 

She wrestled with telling him about the conversation with Lilith. Sabrina wasn’t about to tell her friends and her aunts definitely couldn’t know, but maybe him knowing could help Nick gain an upper hand?

“Lilith needs me to go back and declare her Queen.” 

Nick winced at that, shaking his head and holding her hand a bit tighter as his body strained against the internal intrusion. “He likes the idea of you going there.” 

“I’ve got you,” she breathed out, squeezing his hand back as she continued to stroke his cheek, getting him to focus on her. 

His face twisted, his eyes becoming bloody as he cried out, body collapsing as tremors ran through him. “Nick?” She caught him, willing his body to stop, for the internal suffering to end. “Stop it. _Leave him alone._ ”

He snapped up, body rigid and his eyes narrowed as he took her in. It was Nick’s face but she knew he’d lost temporary control. Sabrina scrambled backward, far enough away that he couldn’t reach her with the chains limiting his movement, but she remained in the circle.

“Lilith isn’t a Morningstar. Hell will never accept her as Queen.” It was strange to hear Nick’s voice saying those words, but his mannerisms were all Lucifer now. “It wants _you_. It needs you, Sabrina Morningstar.”

“ _Spellman_.” Sabrina stood up, not wanting to be on the same level as him. “It doesn’t get the choice.” 

“There is a balance to the universe, Sabrina--”

“Weren’t you just wanting to destroy that balance and take over Earth?”

It was surreal to watch Nick’s arm wave her off as if that detail was irrelevant. “Heaven and Hell are always at battle over Earth, child. It's a constant tug of war over who gathers the most souls, who leads the mortals down their path to damnation or supposed salvation. A never ending cycle that we must keep spinning.”

She shrugged, really not wanting to have the history lesson. “I’m sure Lilith can happily keep that wheel turning then. Especially since she actually _wants_ the job.” 

“Hell will not accept her. Nor will Heaven if your stubbornness manages to last that long. And then there will be no protecting your family or mortal pets in the chaos that will reign.” She had to give him a hand for doling out portents of doom. “You do not know the complexities that you mess with.”

And she had no desire to learn about them. “Maybe you should have thought about that before enacting your ridiculous ascension plan. Because I’m a no. Consent. Learn it.” 

“I am the Dark Lord, Sabrina. The great corrupter, sin incarnate, once the most beloved of the False God’s angels, Lucifer Morningstar, Hell’s rightful ruler, and your _father_. I always get what I want.” She bristled at that, retort ready on her lips when the whispers started.

 _Mighty Dark Lord_. 

Sabrina whipped around, trying to figure out where the new voice was coming from. “What the hell are you playing at?” She narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Nick, hating the gleeful expression he donned. It wasn’t at all like Nick’s usual mirth, that crooked smile that she’d come to know so well. This was pure Lucifer. 

He simply leaned back, entirely too smug for her liking. “The tasks are already falling to you.” 

The whispers echoed again and she turned, trying to locate it. “What tasks?” 

He never got a chance to answer as Sabrina felt herself being teleported away, which was a new unusual feeling. The added Hellfire swirling around her as she arrived in a dark room was also a brand new development. “What the Heaven?” 

There was a pentagram drawn on the floor, various symbols in blood on the walls too, and for a second she thought she’d been brought to Hell, but the Led Zeppelin posters tacked onto the wall besides the bloody symbols had her quickly rethinking that stance. The young man tied up at the farside of the pentagram, gagged and eyes wide with terror added a new dimension to the crazy. 

“You’re not the Dark Lord,” a voice murmured from somewhere behind her and Sabrina spun around, arms locking in front of her in a protective spell as she took in the other man in the room. 

He looked normal, older than her, but the serrated knife in his hand was definitely not a welcomed sight. “What am I doing here? How did you even summon me?” 

The man clenched the knife tightly, eyes narrowing and Sabrina had a feeling he was considering attacking her. “ _Answer me_ ,” she demanded, her eyes turning white as the air whipped around her, channeling all of the fury she had been pushing down.

“I d-didn’t,” he stammered, stepping back. “I summoned the Dark Lord.”

“Sabrina.” Lilith’s voice. 

The wind stopped and Sabrina took a deep breath, calming herself before she glanced over in the direction it had come from, spotting the almost Queen standing nearby. “Is there a reason you decided to drop by for this particular payment?” Lilith asked, gesturing toward the man with the knife.

“Payment?” Sabrina looked between the two. 

“My yearly sacrifice to keep living,” the man in front of her started and Sabrina heard the gagged man struggle behind her. She couldn’t blame him. It couldn’t be easy to hear someone so casually talk about killing you.

“It’s a standard deal,” Lilith started.

Sabrina’s mouth dropped open slightly at that, taking a step back at how casually the other woman was able to say that. “It’s _barbaric_.” 

Lilith arched a brow. “Any more so than signing one’s name in the Book of the Beast?”

Sabrina looked back and motioned toward the tied up man. “ _Murder_.”

Lilith took a step toward her, hand raised slightly as if trying to placate her. “I understand that this might come off as a little difficult for your mortal side to understand.”

“I understand murder just fine, Lilith,” Sabrina butted in, ignoring how Lilith rolled her eyes at that. “Just… _no_. So what? You kill people a few times a year and get to be immortal?” She directed her attention back to the killer, who was nodding slowly and looking between her and Lilith. 

The wind started again, whipping about Sabrina as she grappled with that knowledge. So many awful things were done in the Dark Lord’s name. And that didn’t even count the requests he made of people. “Bad people should not get to keep living because they said they would kill in the Dark Lord’s name.” She looked over at Lilith. “Null the contract. Cancel it.”

The sound of dogs barking reverberated through the room, their growls getting louder with every passing second. The man with the knife screamed, dropping to his knees in front of Sabrina. The knife was discarded and he clung to her shirt, pleading. “No, he said--I have the sacrifice right here--”

Sabrina pushed him away, stepping back. “What’s going on?”

Lilith pursed her lips, thoroughly unamused. “You nulled the contract. The hounds are coming to claim what’s theirs.” 

The howls were almost deafening and Sabrina stiffened as she saw the giant beasts descend upon the man. They were larger than any dog she had seen, the color of rust, and their insides exposed on the outside. They tore into him, the man’s screams dying as one ripped apart his jaw, and then dragged him into the darkness. 

Another of them stopped at Sabrina, sniffing her before playfully nudging his head into her thigh. It whimpered, licking at her hand and she tentatively patted it’s head, waiting for it to bite it off. All it did was leave a trail of slobber on her hand before disappearing with the others.

She didn’t know how to react to that, pieces of the man scattered on the floor in front of her, spatters of blood on her clothes, hair and skin. 

“Since you appear to have this covered,” Lilith remarked, the swirl of Hellfire beginning to move around her.

Was she serious? “I don’t even know how I got here.” Sabrina motioned around the room, her voice rose, thankful that the intended victim seemed to have passed out. “One minute I’m hearing some weird voice and the next I wind up in this room with _hellhounds_. And some guy who was apparently praying to the Dark Lord so he could kill another guy and gain another year of life.” 

People were _awful_. 

Lilith sighed, rubbing at her temple, before teleporting Sabrina and her out of the house and into the woods near the Spellman mortuary. “What about the other man?” Sabrina asked. She didn’t think he would be able to untie himself.

“I’ll send someone to deal with him.” Lilith waved that off. She probably wasn’t going to do that. “To the matter at hand. You heard a voice?”

Sabrina nodded. “It said ‘mighty dark lord’. There was something else said, but I didn’t really make it out. And then I was there.” There had been Hellfire whirling around her when she’d arrived, which was new. Not in a good way. “I think it was that guy’s voice.” She couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, having only heard him speak a few times, but she’d bet money on it. 

Lilith pressed her tongue to the back of her teeth, lips thinning in displeasure. She had been on her way to handle the payment, knowing that Hell had called on Sabrina to do so as well wasn’t a good sign for her claim to the throne. “One of the tasks for the ruler of Hell is to accept payment for all deals made. Negotiate those with mortals and witches alike. Tempt as seen fit, though any demon can do that. Claim those who fail to follow through on their deal.” 

“Am I going to be summoned to drag every soul who’s supposed to go to Hell?” Because that would seriously suck. 

“Don’t be silly, Sabrina.” Lilith shook her head at the absurdity of the question. “That task is for the reapers. And hellhounds on occasion.” 

“Why did it…” She couldn’t quite finish the sentence, already knowing why she had been summoned there. _It needs you, Sabrina Morningstar._ She hated that Lucifer’s words rang in her ear. “There aren’t any other past dues coming up in the next two days are there?” Because she didn’t want to deal with that again. 

“I’ll handle them if there are.” Lilith stepped back. “I’ll drop something off that should help you avoid the call of them until we can proceed with my crowning.” 

“Is there anything else I need to expect before that happens?” For everything that she had managed to learn in the last few weeks, Sabrina realized she really had no clue on how Hell worked. Or what exactly being the heir to any of it meant. Not that she wanted to learn, but what if she got pulled next time while she was with her aunts? Or if she was with her friends? What if they were in the middle of something important and she was just suddenly gone? 

“As I said, there shouldn’t be anything pressing for you to deal with,” Lilith assured, mentally going over what was supposed to crop up in the next few days. She might need to collect debts before the prayers started to ensure this didn’t happen again. The Plague Kings were going to love adding losing that particular mortal to the fires of Hell so soon. He had at least another century or two of human sacrifices to provide them before completing his contract.

“Now, I’m sure you can safely make it home from here. I’ve a realm to manage.” Lilith disappeared in a swirl of Hellfire, leaving Sabrina to stare blankly at the spot she’d been in. 

She pressed the palms of her hands to her forehead before sliding her hands down to her mouth. Slowly she breathed out, trying to get her heartbeat back to normal as her mind attempted to make sense of what all had happened. “I can do this,” she murmured, needing to hear the words aloud. “New body, transfer Lucifer, crown Lilith, and then live our lives.” It was simple enough, wasn’t it? Probably not if the last ten minutes was any indication.

“Okay.” She dropped her hands and took another deep breath, reviewing what she needed to do in the immediate future. Anything other than that was looking a little too daunting. First, retrieve her bag and then head back to the Academy. Hopefully she wouldn’t be in too much trouble with her aunties for skipping out on her other tasks.

* * *

Lilith jabbed the spear into the painting, breathing hard as she wrenched it downward, slicing through the image of the Dark Lord. She swung the metal into the bronze statues next to it, knocking them off the pedestals and sending them scattering along the floor. She could remember when each and every single one of them had been claimed and displayed in the palace. She knew all of it, each nook and cranny, every shadow and secret that it held. 

The ground shook, cracks forming in the walls and floor and she let out a scream, throwing the spear at them. 

“Give it a rest,” she muttered before continuing with a spell to repair the damage. Had she not dealt with enough temper tantrums over the last few months from teenagers at Baxter High? Did she really need to deal with it from Hell as well. 

Her blood was etched in these stones, her hands had helped build the entirety of it from the ground up. She had endured beating after beating, humiliation, countless depravities that she couldn’t even give name to and it _dared_ to treat her this way. All because it wanted some sixteen year old brat with celestial blood. 

“I _earned_ you.”

It echoed back with more tremors, this time a cascade of ice slicing through the ground and Lilith gritted her teeth at that. Hell was _not_ going to freeze over on her watch. 

“My-my Queen…”

She whirled around, glaring at one of her minions hovering in the doorway. “Can you not see that I’m busy?”

“Y-yes, your majesty but--” He opened his mouth and snapped it shut but didn’t hurry back through the doorway like he usually would. 

Lilith waved her hand, sending the ice away. “What is it?”

He hesitated, trying to figure out precisely how to tell her what he needed. “It appears that the Styx has dried up.”

“ _Excuse me_.” Surely she had heard that wrong.

“The river. It’s gone.”

“Gone?” How could it be gone? It couldn’t just disappear.

He reminded her of a fish with how he continued to try to get the correct words out and she cursed the incompetence of her staff before teleporting to the fifth circle. 

Nothing but a large cavern laid in front of her, a sea of dead trapped on the other side. The Plague Kings stood among them and Lilith pursed her lips as they shook their heads and looked down at the barren land. They raised their arms, gesturing at the barren land, before disappearing into the crowd. 

She glared at the wasteland, rolling her eyes upward as Hell trembled again, sending jettisons of ice cracking through the ground. “We get it,” she bit out, thoroughly unamused with the situation.

Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to move the coronation up by a day or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm incorporating a lot of different versions of Hell and the various mythology around it for this version. The show plays so fast and loose with varying mythology and witchcraft that I figured Hell would be a bit mixed with things from Christianity as well as other underworld/death aspects. Especially since Dante's Inferno that they seem to draw a few things from was a mix of several different belief systems.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Next chapter will have some Nick vs the Dark Lord, Aunties and Sabrina, as well as Ambrose and Sabrina conversations, and some more insanity with Hell for Sabrina to handle.


	3. Chapter Three

_never forget:  
we walk on hell,  
gazing at flowers  
_

Nick wrestled back control when Sabrina had disappeared in a swirl of Hellfire. He’d called out for her, trying to determine what exactly had happened when he’d been under, but the smugness exuding from Lucifer was nauseating, letting him know it couldn’t be anything good. He threw up more barriers, spells muttered to keep locking the Dark Lord inside of him. They were countered and destroyed, but Nick kept going, new ones popping up for every spell torn down.

It was easier now that he wasn’t having to endure the endless punishments that Lilith and her demons had doled out on him in Hell, but the fact that they were out of Hell only seemed to embolden the devil as well. “She’s magnificent, isn’t she?” Lucifer drawled as he tugged at Nick’s darkest memories, the ones long buried and compartmentalized.

Nick redrew the sigils, blocking out the images that were trying to bombard him. Most he managed to shred into nothingness, but the screams as his mother was killed echoed within him, cutting through and knocking him backwards.

He scrambled back to his feet in the landscape of his mind, ready to parry again. “You don't know her at all.” 

Sabrina. 

Nick had been able to sense the new power running through her, the ties it had to Hell, but he’d seen the worry etched in her features, and could tell that she was running on fumes. She was a ball of confusion and he didn’t doubt for a second that everything she was trying to do was in place to protect those that she loved. 

“I'm giving her everything she could ever want, ever need,” Lucifer countered, attacking at the membranes of Nick’s mind, warping pleasant memories into terrifying mockeries.

Nick struggled against the new onslaught, grabbing onto the memory of his first kiss with Sabrina--not the stage one, but after that, before Lupercalia. All of that tenderness and passion rolled into one, a duality that seemed to encompass every bit of her. He knew she liked the power that she had been given, that she’d been moving down the path of Night and enjoyed tiptoeing in the darker sides of her nature, but he also remembered how broken she’d been when she’d seen the painting of the prophecy in the mines, how she had given up all of it to stop the Dark Lord.

He laughed at how much Lucifer didn’t understand Sabrina. “You threaten everything she wants and needs. If it comes down to power or family, she'll pick family.” 

Lucifer’s face darkened at that, the usually angelic version of him distorting to the monsterish one that Nick was more used to seeing. “I am her Father. Her loyalty is to me.”

Nick scoffed at that, pleased he’d hit a sore spot. _Finally_. “You might have played a hand in her creation but you're nothing to her.”

“ _Submit_ ,” Lucifer demanded, pulling at the magic inside of the boy. What was once given could be taken away; though that was trickier while he was locked inside.

Nick crossed his arms in front of him, sending a blow toward Lucifer and grinned as he knocked the Dark Lord backwards a few feet. “I don't worship you anymore.” 

He hadn’t for a long time. Not since he’d fallen in love with Sabrina and now that she was connected to Hell, Nick threw all of his worship toward her, feeling himself bolstered by her new powers. He just wished his answer hadn’t made the Dark Lord smile even as he sent another spell to continue their never ending attack.

* * *

There was a calmness as Sabrina entered her home, a quietness that hadn’t been felt in it since the coven had needed to take up temporary residency. It wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket, easing the confusion that had clawed its way inside of her. Salem greeted her, purring as he moved around her legs, before following her further inside. She headed toward the stairs, needing to change out of her bloodied clothes, but froze on the first step as she heard Zelda call out her name.

“I’ll be right back down,” she called back, hurrying up the stairs before either aunt could spot her. She hadn’t come up with an excuse for the state of her clothes and didn’t want to try and come with something spontaneously. 

The clothes she’d been wearing were stuffed into the bottom of her hamper as she made a mental note to wash them later that night, changing into some fuzzy pajamas that Roz had bought her during the winter solstice. Salem canted his head as he regarded her from his spot on the chair. “Do I look innocent enough?” 

She glanced over at her reflection in the mirror and reached up to touch her hair, frowning at the telltale sign of power that rushed through her. “It’ll have to do.” 

Sabrina bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding both of her aunts at the small table. The kettle was already set out, cups for tea in their usual places and Sabrina slid into her seat, smiling slightly as Hilda poured her some hot water. 

“And where did you run off to today?” Zelda asked, flicking ashes into the tray as Sabrina dropped a sugar cube into her cup. She should have known the direct approach was going to be the one they went with. 

“I checked on the ghost children.” It wasn’t a lie. She had done that.

“For five hours you checked on the ghost children?” Sabrina blew on her tea, trying to ignore the look Zelda was giving her as Hilda offered up a tray of biscuits. Zelda pushed the tray backward. “Do not coddle her.” 

Hilda offered an apologetic look, placing the tray near her and out of reach from Sabrina. “I had some things I needed to take care of, Auntie,” Sabrina started. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she knew it wouldn’t go over well with Zelda.

Zelda stubbed out her cigarette and laid it down on the table before directing her attention fully onto her niece. “I know that this must be a difficult time for you, Sabrina. With all you have learned and Nicholas being lost to us, but life must move on. We have a coven to care for, you have school to attend to, both ours and the mortal one. Disappearing for hours on end to mope needs to desist.” 

If only that had been what had occupied her time. But what could she say to that. She didn’t want to tell them that she’d been to Hell and was going to need to head back there. That she currently has Nick and the Dark Lord locked in some abandoned house wouldn’t go over well either. And forget about the whole Hell calling to her and assigning tasks for her to do. 

“I just miss him so much.” Every ounce of sorrow in her voice was genuine. 

“Of course you do,” Helda pushed the tray of biscuits forward again, glaring briefly at Zelda before reaching over to pat Sabrina’s arm. “It's only natural, my love.”

“I’m sure once she finds a solution that Lilith will deliver him back to you,” Zelda offered up as she took one of the chocolate ones. “After all, she did bring your teacher back.” 

Sabrina quietly drank her tea in reply, not wanting to chance saying anything about what exactly Lilith had been doing to Nick. As for Ms. Wardwell...well. She was worried about her. Her favorite teacher had always been rather quiet, but there was something so haunting about her now and Sabrina wasn’t too sure how to help her with the trauma that she was still going through. No one could explain the loss in her memory to her nor would they be able to. Then there was the disappearance of her fiance and Sabrina had a feeling that he probably wouldn’t be turning up safe and sound. 

She should really bring her scones tomorrow. With the blueberry jam that she really liked. 

“After killing her and taking on her persona for several months,” Sabrina managed to get out as she set down her cup. 

“Oh did we tell you?” Hilda clapped her hands together, happy to change the discussion as Zelda had looked as though she wanted to say something about mortals being inconsequential. “We’ve picked Lilith.”

“Picked Lilith?” Sabrina arched a brow, trying to remember what they were picking her for.

“For whom to worship. She is Queen of Hell.” Hilda shook with glee and Sabrina bit into her cookie, not really wanting to rain on her aunt’s happiness. “Bet they can’t say a witch can’t be High Priestess anymore once that comes out. All those backward thinking ones won’t have a leg stand on.”

“I’d say it will be a good while before that knowledge is spread among the covens,” Zelda replied, though she did look pleased at the idea. “After all there needs to be a reason for the Dark Lord’s absence and we do not rightly want it spread that we had a hand in that.”

“What are we telling the coven?” Sabrina asked, because something would need to be told to those who hadn’t participated in the deception.

Zelda shrugged, not seeming worried at all about that. “That we’re reclaiming all that Faustus destroyed over the last decade or so. They’re entirely grateful for everything these last few weeks and our saving their lives that after everything they endured they want something different, Sabrina. They need it.”

She opened her mouth to reply when Ambrose’s voice echoed in the room just beyond. “Aunties!”

“Ambrose?” they all cried out simultaneously, scrambling from the table and into the room he was in. 

Prudence was with him, both of them bloodied and clutching an infant to them while barely managing to stand. “We need a bit of help here,” Prudence told them and everyone moved into action.

Hilda helped get them toward the kitchen, clearing off the table as Zelda and Sabrina took the twins. “They’re fine,” Ambrose assured, “But we both caught a knife in the side getting them away from that lunatic.” 

Judas let out a wale in response while Judith sucked on her thumb, staring at Sabrina with wide eyes. “Did you get him?” Zelda asked as she bounced Judas, working to calm him down.

“Not yet, but we had the opportunity to rescue them so we had to take it.” Prudence looked between her siblings and winced as Hilda pulled up her shirt to inspect the wound.

“It’s nothing a few herbs and stitches won’t be able to mend,” Hilda told them. “After a good cleaning so we don’t chance you getting an infection.”

Zelda shifted back and forth with Judas who was beginning to quiet down. “Sabrina, help me get these two upstairs and then you can come back to help out Hilda.” 

Sabrina nodded, pausing when Prudence touched her arm. “Where are my sisters?” 

“They’re okay. They’re back at the Academy. Just opened back up today.” Prudence let out a sigh at that and dropped her hand. Sabrina glanced over at Ambrose who mouthed “later” before Sabrina slipped out and up the stairs to join Zelda.

* * *

Lilith straightened, looking down upon the Plague Kings and the various Lords of Hell that they had brought with them to the throne room. The crown was still on her head, minions of the realm answering to her every beck and call. It was the aristocracy that was the problem. She had always known they could be, their disdain for her overt at times over the years, but there had been a begrudging respect after she’d returned with the crown and the Dark Lord trapped in the warlock’s body.

All of that was so easily destroyed because Hell was throwing random tantrums over the lack of Morningstar blood in the seat. As though Lucifer had done such a stellar job on it for the last millennia that a sixteen year old had been able to topple his reign. “You have seen the signs,” Beelzebub started, flies swirling about him and she raised her chin as she locked her gaze with his, channeling as much disdain as she could.

“The Styx dried up. Hellhounds sickening.” Asmodeous stepped forward, his voice nearly a hiss. “Hell freezing over.”

“It balks at your rule,” Purson spat out. 

There was a chorus of agreement from the others, the same ones who had cheered her arrival only weeks ago jeering at her place now. “It will worsen until the Princess claims her rightful place,” Beelzebub continued, the others nodding along to his words.

“Where is she?”

“Why have you not brought her here?”

It was a cacophony of questions, each of them more asinine than the other.

“She’ll be here in two days time.” Not to claim the throne as they seemed to want, but Lilith didn’t particularly feel like adding that detail in. Once she was officially crowned Hell would yield and the Kings and Lords of Hell would fall back in line.

“Why did you not say so?” Purson demanded, looking at the other Kings.

“I’m not beholden to you.” Lilith shrugged, before resting her hands on the arms of the throne. “My staff is working on righting the palace for her arrival.” Her minions nodded to that. It wasn’t a lie. She had been preparing for the coronation. It was just her own, instead of Sabrina’s, but they didn’t need to know that. Her attention shifted back to the three kings. “Considering the three of you attempted to kill her a few months back you may want to work on your groveling for forgiveness.”

They bristled at that, the lords around them now murmuring words about them, vindicating Lilith for the moment. “If there is nothing else, I do have a number of matters to handle until Sabrina is ready to join us.” She waved them off, a smile plastered on until the last of them had departed the hall. 

Lilith slumped back onto the throne, a headache beginning to fester. She glanced over at the nearest of her minions, not remembering its name. “Bring me something to torture.” 

She deserved a little bit of fun after the day she’d had.

* * *

“Still awake, cuz?” 

Sabrina grinned as Ambrose poked his head into her room and she waved him inside. Salem meowed moodily at the interruption to his snoozing but allowed her cousin to pick him up and proceed to pet him. “How are you feeling?” she asked, looking toward the side that their aunt had managed to bandage up.

“I’ll be fine in a few days.”

“I could always…” she offered, holding up her hands. She hadn’t tried healing anyone since Roz but Sabrina knew that ability still swirled around inside of her. 

Ambrose shook his head. “I could use the downtime before heading back out to deal with Blackwood.” Salem purred at the attention he was receiving. “Prudence went to see her sisters and the Aunties are fussing over the twins, so it seemed to me that it was the perfect opportunity to see what trouble my rabble-rouser of a cousin has gotten up to.”

“It’s been nonstop school and helping get everyone ready for the Academy reopening, Ambrose,” Sabrina replied with a shrug. “There hasn’t been time to get into any trouble.”

“And yet that has never stopped you before,” Ambrose pointed out, as Salem stretched his head, working to get a particular itch scratched. “Spill.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to rebut that and continue on with her line of being busy, but Ambrose could be helpful with getting Lucifer out of Nick. He’d been the one to do the mandrake spell for her and he’d managed to put Lucifer to sleep inside of Nick when he’d tried to attack her. Both of which she was going to need some help with so she could bind Lucifer to the body and keep him asleep so Lilith could do as she pleased. 

“It’s probably easier if I show you.” She nudged Salem who meowed piteously before moving off Ambrose’s lap. Sabrina took hold of her cousin’s hand and teleported them to where she was keeping Nick. 

“Unholy shit,” Ambrose muttered as he took in Scratch, the chains, circle and various sigils and realized what all of those combined meant. “Please tell me that Lilith sent him here to you.”

“I can lie if you want.” She glanced over at him, watching Ambrose steeple his hands and press them to his mouth. He closed his eyes and drew in a long breath before turning to look at her. 

Ambrose clasped his hands in front of him. “You went to Hell.”

“Yeah.” Sabrina nodded, watching him take in that information.

He looked back over at the seemingly sleeping Nick. “And the Aunties don’t know this.”

Sabrina shook her head. “No.”

Of course not. “And the Dark Lord is still residing inside of him.”

“Unfortunately.” Sabrina sighed at that. “ _But_ I have a plan.” She nodded for Ambrose to follow her outside and started walking the path in the woods. 

Ambrose followed after her, still trying to come to terms with the fact that Sabrina had been in _Hell_. “Let’s hear this half-brained scheme of yours.”

“Remember the mandrake?” she started and Ambrose sighed at that.

“You want to create a mandrake body to put him into.”

“We just need a different host so that it's not Nick anymore. And she seemed to work for me.”

“Except the Dark Lord is insanely powerful and we’d need to bind that body together with clay from the depths of Hell to have even a chance of it being strong enough to hold him.”

“Which circle?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Which circle do we need the clay from? I can get it when I have to go back to coronate Lilith.”

“I feel like you’ve left out quite a bit of the story, Sabrina.”

“You probably need to sit.” She nodded toward the log and Ambrose took the opportunity to do so, his injured side hurting from the bit of walking. His mouth dropped open as she started to recount the last two days, closing and opening again as he took in each piece of information that seemed even crazier than the next bit and yet made perfect sense as well.

“So you using your blood to get out of Hell, let it know that you exist?” He started, needing to make sure he’d gotten it right.

“Yes.”

“And now it sees you as the current leader of it.”

“Right again.”

“Pulling you to take on tasks that are usually reserved for the Dark Lord.”

“Lilith said she’ll handle them now.”

“And you think that your giving Lilith the crown will suddenly make it decide you’re no longer it's true heir?” 

“That’s my hope.”

Ambrose pressed his lips together as he nodded, before swallowing and then looking back up at Sabrina. “How confident are you in that being the case, cousin?”

She dropped down on the log beside him with a sigh. “If I can drop Lucifer off in a paralyzed body for her to cart around at her pleasure I think it at least ups my chances to like seventy percent.”

He tapped his fingers against his mouth as he kept trying to make sense of everything she had said. “What was it like?” He couldn’t help but be curious. Hell was the end goal for every witch and warlock.

“What was what like?” Sabrina stared out into the darkness, the moon’s light making a halo out of her hair. He nudged her at that. “I didn’t really pay much attention to it. Hot?”

“Hot?” Ambrose poked her in the side at that. “Hell was hot.”

“It felt good being there.” She hated herself for admitting that. “It felt like...you know when you’ve had a really bad day and you walk through the door and Aunt Hilda’s already made your favorite cookie and Aunt Zee brushes your hair back as you walk by in that way that shows she cares?” Ambrose nodded. “It felt like that. And I hate that it did.”

He carefully put his arm around her. “Sabrina,” he started as she rested against him. “Do you want to give Lilith the crown?”

“I don’t want Hell.” And she didn’t. As drawn as she felt to the place, it wasn’t what she wanted in her life. “I want to be here with all of you. I want high school and the Academy. I want Nick okay and our lives to be like they were.” 

Ambrose hugged her a bit tighter. Growing up was never easy. “You know nothing can go back to how it used to be.” 

“Doesn’t mean I don’t wish it would,” Sabrina murmured and silence fell between them for a few moments. He rested his head against hers, the two taking solace in one another’s presence like they had done countless times over the years.

Ambrose pulled away from her and stood up, offering a hand to pull Sabrina to her feet as well. “Alright, get us back to the mortuary so we can come up with an actual plan for this mandrake Dark Lord that you’re wanting to do.”

* * *

“So you have to go back to Hell?” Roz asked, and Sabrina let out a sigh at that as they headed down the hallway together.

“Ambrose thinks the clay will help with the binding and I’d kind of like him not to be able to break out of the body.” Because having a vengeful Lucifer on the loose didn’t seem like it would go over well for any of them.

Roz nodded slowly, the worry evident in how she creased her forehead as they entered the classroom. “Think he’d want revenge?”

“Definitely.” Though, Sabrina didn’t think he’d kill her. Just everyone that she loved, which in her opinion was far worse. She spotted Ms. Wardwell at her desk and nodded toward her as Roz headed to get the two of them seats. “Hey, Ms. Wardwell. Are you making it to the horror double feature this week?”

“Sabrina.” The smile that accompanied her name was soft, even the way Ms. Wardwell’s voice sounded was gentler than the one she’d come to expect the last few months. Sabrina felt awful that she hadn’t noticed all of the little things she could pick up now that told every difference between her teacher and when Lilith had been masquerading as her. “I think I might have to pass on them still.” 

She hadn’t been to a single one of them since she had returned. “At least until I figure a few more things out.” About the missing time she still couldn’t quite comprehend. 

“Hopefully you get some answers soon,” Sabrina told her before heading over to sit with Roz.

“Nothing?” Roz asked as Sabrina set her notebook down. 

“Maybe it's better that she doesn’t?” Because Sabrina didn’t know where Ms. Wardwell had been while Lilith was around, but she had a feeling it had been somewhere in Hell. And remembering being in Hell could break a person. Which made her think of Nick and how he not only had to endure Hell, but the Devil inside of him as well. 

She promised herself she would be there for him to deal with all of that once he was free of the Dark Lord, in whatever way he might need her. He’d sacrificed himself for her, his last words echoed in her mind; _you taught me how to love_. She had been so hurt when she’d learned that he had gotten close to her because the Dark Lord had tasked him with that, the knowledge of that betrayal cutting deeply. He’d stepped up though; first with the acheron and then...it never should have come down to him being the vessel. 

All she wanted to do was head back to him and talk, hold his hand, _anything_ to help offer a little strength against Lucifer. But that would have to wait until after school.

There was a loud rumble in the distance that had Sabrina glancing over at Roz, the two of them exchanging curious looks before grabbing the sides of their desks as the classroom began to shake. “Everyone, remain calm,” Ms. Wardwell called out. “Under the desks. It’s just...an earthquake.”

Which didn’t make sense considering Greendale didn’t have those. Roz and Sabrina clambered underneath their desks like the rest of the class. Books fell from the shelves, pencils rolled across the tables and onto the floor as the ground continued to shake. “Brina?” Roz mouthed and Sabrina shrugged. 

“I have no idea.” But it didn’t feel natural. She could feel the build up of magic in the air, but it wasn’t like when her aunts and her had manipulated the weather. This was coming from elsewhere and charging with the atmosphere, bringing forth something she could feel shouldn’t be released.

The sound of an explosion reverberated through the room, and everyone clamped their hands over their ears at the intensity of it. The windows exploded inward, glass raining down on them, screams erupting from near and far. Car alarms could be heard going off in the distance, the sound of other ones crashing as the fire alarm went off as well. 

At least the ground had stopped shaking. 

“Stay together,” Ms. Wardwell started as she crawled out from under her desk, careful to avoid the debris. “Everyone remember where we meet on the football court?” She motioned for them to move and slowly kids began scrambling out from their desks. 

“Cover for me?” Sabrina murmured to Roz as they headed toward the door.

Roz nodded, catching hold of Sabrina’s arm first, but no vision came. “Be careful.” 

“ _Lanuae magicae_.” 

She teleported back to the mortuary grounds but didn’t go inside. A few of the headstones were cracked, one of the trees had fallen, narrowly missing the house. Most likely due to the protection spells placed on it long ago. 

Sabrina concentrated, trying to determine where the source of the power that still crinkled in the air was located. _There_. She teleported again, not surprised to find her Aunt Zelda or a few of the other Academy teachers standing near the giant hole in the middle of the forest. Smoke billowed out of it, shoots of hellfire breaking through the never ending darkness that seemed to permeate from it. 

“What can it mean?”

“How did it--”

Sabrina ignored the whispers among them and Zelda’s questions too as she stepped nearer, feeling that familiar pull she’d first experienced when she’d stepped into Hell. Lucifer’s words echoed inside of her, reminding her that Hell wouldn’t accept Lilith and that chaos would follow. 

Was this part of that? Or did this kind of thing just happen sometimes? It was possible that it did. It wasn’t like she knew everything that had happened before. Aunt Zelda would probably regale her with tales of another incident like this happening three hundred years ago when she was in France. Or maybe Japan.

It was fine. 

Everything was _fine_.

She jumped as Zelda touched her arm, pulling her away from the edges of the hole. Her aunt was talking to the others, offering reassurance all around and Sabrina slowly let out the breath she had been holding as she listened to her talk. 

The ground trembled again, the smoke moving higher into the air as a creature shot out of the hole. He was enormous, blotting out the sun as he hovered above them, red eyes glaring down as his batlike wings beat rapidly to keep him aloft. Snake-like creatures made up the bottom of him, barely visible in the smoke and fire that wrapped around him, billowing out onto the ground around them. 

“Typhon,” Zelda breathed out, and Sabrina could feel her aunt’s terror as she pulled Sabrina behind her. 

She had no idea who or what that was, but the fear from the other witches and warlocks was palpable. Fire shot out of the serpent heads and Zelda threw up a shield, blocking it as best she could. The creature continued spewing hellfire at them and while the other teachers added in their own abilities, they wavered under the flames, the shield beginning to crack. 

“Go home, get Hilda,” Zelda ordered, even as she faltered to one knee, straining under the heat.

Sabrina pushed past, ignoring her Aunt’s cries, as she locked her arms in front of her, sending the flame back at the creature. It whipped its attention toward her and she could hear the gasps of the others behind her. 

“Sabrina!” She hoped someone was holding her Aunt back.

Sabrina held her ground as the monster locked its gaze with hers, serpents looking ready to strike again at any second. She wasn’t having any of it. She didn’t know how she knew, but somehow she was certain all the same that it _had_ to listen to her. She called on her own hellfire, letting it curl around her as she took a step forward. 

“Go back to Hell,” Sabrina called out, pointing toward the hole. The serpents hissed at her words as she rose into the air until she was at the same eye level as Typhon. “I _order_ you to return to the pits where you belong.” She could almost envision the circle it had come from, the bowels of Hell that it had been trapped inside for a millennia. 

It growled, raising an arm to strike, but she pulled at the power radiating from the hole, the ones calling for her to return as well. Her hair whipped about her as the wind picked up, thunder cracking in the distance as dark clouds rolled in. 

“I am Sabrina Morningstar and you _will_ listen when I speak.” 

It let out a roar, but slunk back into the hole as quickly as it had come, and she closed her eyes, concentrating on the hole and worked to close it. Who knew what else would find its way out if she didn’t? Plus it gave her a few more moments before she had to turn around and face the questions she knew her aunt and the others would have. 

Sabrina took a deep breath once it was sealed, scorched earth the only sign that anything had been there before, and landed back on the ground to look back at the others. She didn’t even try to give an explanation as she spotted her aunt and took in Zelda’s pursed lips and narrowed eyes. 

“Home. _Now_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell is definitely not very happy at the moment and neither is Aunt Zelda.
> 
> Next chapter will have the Aunts having a long needed conversation with Sabrina (and Ambrose), some Lucifer and Nick, Sabrina and Nick, as well as a coronation of sorts.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

_Whatever causes night in our souls  
may leave stars._

__

Hilda rubbed her hands together as she breathed in the smell of apple pie that filled the kitchen. With Zelda at the school it had fallen on her to watch the twins and since the two of them were down for their naps on and off throughout the day, a bit of baking had seemed in order. Hopefully the impromptu earthquake hadn’t unsettled it too much.

Ambrose shimmied in his seat at the table before sliding out of it and heading toward the fridge. “I believe I saw ice cream earlier.”

Sabrina appeared in the kitchen. “Hello, love,” Hilda started, removing the pie from the oven and setting it down to cool. “Pie?”

Zelda appeared seconds later, looking like an agitated hornet. “No, pie then.” Hilda glanced over at Ambrose, wondering if he knew what might be happening but he simply held onto his pilfered carton of ice cream.

“I can explain, Aunt Zee,” Sabrina started, holding up her hands in a way that was meant to placate but only seemed to anger her aunt even more so.

“What in Satan’s name have you gotten involved in now?” Zelda demanded, not letting Sabrina answer the question as she continued. “Banishing Typhon back to Hell. Closing a hellmouth. Did I mention that you had a crown of hellfire on your head while you were doing so? So yes, you better start explaining and do so now, young lady.”

“I had a crown of hellfire?” Sabrina sank into the chair. She definitely hadn’t realized that. 

“I’m sorry--but Typhon?” Hilda asked, raising her hand as she sat down beside Sabrina. “The ancient Greek father of monsters, Typhon? You shouldn’t be able to do that.” She looked at her niece, noting the way Sabrina bit her lower lip and closed her eyes for a moment, all signs that Sabrina was struggling with what to say. Hilda looked over at the other two. “He also shouldn’t be able to get out of Hell.”

“Precisely, Hilda. And yet, our niece _ordered_ it to burrow back to Hell and the creature listened.” Zelda sighed; she desperately needed a cigarette.

Sabrina glanced over at Ambrose who had opened the ice cream carton and was spooning out a bite for himself. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded toward the aunts. It was time to come clean. “Roz, Theo, Harvey and I went to Hell and got Nick out. In order to get us out of Hell I had to do a spell that required my blood. Apparently when my blood hit the floor that let Hell know that I exist, which means it sees me as its current ruler or something, and so all of the tasks that the Dark Lord usually does are now mine. Which means it's balking at Lilith’s rule and I think that’s how that thing--Typhon, I guess, got out?”

Silence reigned for a moment as Hilda and Zelda took in what she had said. Hilda opened her mouth to comment before quickly closing it again and repeating the motion. Zelda turned around, pacing for a moment, before turning back to look back at Sabrina and then continuing on that cycle for another moment. Ambrose offered a thumbs up as his response before passing her the tub of ice cream and a clean spoon. 

“You went to Hell?” Zelda asked and Sabrina nodded. “On your own.”

“I was with Harv…” She let her answer trail off at Zelda’s cutting look. Obviously her friends did not count in her aunt’s mind as suitable companions for a hellish adventure.

“You went to Hell and you didn’t tell us,” Zelda continued as she finally sat down. 

“We would have gone with you, love.” Hilda squeezed Sabrina’s hand.

“You guys already had so much to deal with.The coven and the Academy, I didn’t want to add to it,” Sabrina rationalized, and Hilda nodded along to that, patting her hand.

“Plus we never would have allowed it just so you could rescue Nicholas. I’m assuming he still has the Dark Lord in him?” Zelda sighed as Sabrina nodded confirmation to that.

“We have a plan,” Sabrina started, glancing over at Ambrose who in turn glared daggers at her.

“You knew about this?” Zelda demanded, eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to him. “I expect these hair-brained schemes from her, but Ambrose, did you learn nothing after seventy-five years of house arrest?”

He raised his hands. “I didn’t know anything until yesterday, Auntie.” 

Zelda waved that off. “ _And yet_ , we did not find out until today.”

Sabrina passed him back the carton. “I had to go, Aunt Zelda. Lilith was _torturing him_. Not Lucifer’s body. _Nick’s._ And he’s already dealing with that enough in his head. He didn’t deserve his body to be violated too.”

Zelda pressed her lips together at that. She couldn’t fully blame her niece if that was true and from how stricken Sabrina looked at the thought of it, she was certain it was. “You should have told us you were going to Hell.”

“And planning to head back,” Ambrose murmured as he took a bite of ice cream.

It was Sabrina’s turn to glare at him. “Back to Hell?” Hilda asked, looking across the table at her sister.

Sabrina nodded. “I have to go back there, tomorrow I think? Crown Lilith and then Hell should accept her and everything will just go back to normal.” Plus she needed to get the clay for them to use. 

“You mentioned tasks,” Zelda said as she rose and headed to take one of her cigarettes and elaborate holders from the drawer. She lit it and turned back to face her family while leaning against the counter. “What else have you managed to do?” 

Sabrina took a deep breath, thankful that Ambrose passed the tub back her way. “There was a payment to the Dark Lord for another year of life. I might have nulled the contract.” 

“You can do that?” Hilda asked and Sabrina shrugged. 

“Apparently.”

Hilda simply nodded and leaned back in her chair, sputtering words Sabrina couldn’t quite make out. She offered the carton to her and her aunt eagerly accepted it. Hilda leaned over toward Ambrose. “Does this mean we worship Sabrina now?” 

“Hell help us,” Ambrose murmured at the idea, pressing his hand to his mouth.

“How certain are you that crowning Lilith will cease your apparent tie to Hell?” Zelda asked before taking a long drag. 

Sabrina wanted to say she was confident. “I have no idea. She thinks it’ll work. Lucifer doesn’t, but he might just be saying that to screw with me.”

“Or he may be telling the truth,” Zelda muttered as she flicked ash into the sink. “Right then. Call her.”

“What?”

“Lilith. Get her to come here. We’re not letting you attend some coronation that may or may not work. And certainly not alone. I want to know the details of what she has planned and what there is to expect.” 

“We’re going to Hell,” Ambrose murmured as he leaned back in his seat, taking that in before leaning in and looking between them all. “What am I going to wear?” 

“I don’t know how to contact her,” Sabrina started, ignoring Ambrose’s ramblings. 

“ _Try_ ,” Zelda replied and Sabrina sighed. 

“Lilith?” she called out, before waving her hand and giving her aunt a pointed look. _See_?

Except then an irritated Lilith was standing in the middle of the kitchen so one point for her aunt. “You rang?” Lilith asked, smacking her lips in annoyance as she took in the lot of them. 

Zelda stepped forward, resting a hand on Sabrina’s shoulder as she eyed the other woman.“What is this about you taking my niece into Hell to crown you queen again? On her own. Without her family at her side?”

Ah, it seemed the witch had finally let her family in on what was happening. Lilith offered up a smile to try and cover up her growing annoyance at being questioned. “Sabrina is free to have anyone she _wants_ at the ceremony.”

Zelda crossed her arms at that. “And you're certain this will work? There won’t be anymore monsters getting loose like earlier today.”

Lilith bristled at that. As if she wasn’t already hearing enough about the damn creature’s unfortunate escape back in Hell. Now she needed to hear it from witches as well? “A little hiccup,” she assured. ”Hell will start listening again once it knows Sabrina has no desire for it.”

“How certain are you of that?” Zelda continued, still not buying it. 

“It was listening just fine before she revealed her presence,” Lilith directed her attention to Sabrina. If only the girl had left well enough alone, none of this would have been happening. “It should go back to listening once she abdicates.”

“Abdicate?” Sabrina asked.

“And crown me queen, yes,” Lilith reminded. “We’ll introduce you. You’ll let them know your desires, crown me queen, and I suppose mingle for a bit.” 

“After that she’ll be able to leave?” Hilda piped in, and all of the Spellmans looked at Lilith for confirmation on that.

“And live her life as she sees fit.” She had no desire to keep Sabrina around in Hell. It was better if she was on Earth. Less chance of the Plague Kings trying to start a coup. “Though I’ll still be needing the Dark Lord back.”

“As soon as I get him out of Nick,” Sabrina assured. 

“And if that doesn’t work? If Hell decides she cannot give up the duties that she’s apparently inherited?” Zelda continued, bringing the conversation back to what they needed to work out. “It’s not something any of us want to have happen, but it is a possibility we need to plan for.”

“Then she needs to give up the mortal realm and rule.” Lilith had to believe it wouldn’t come to that.

“And if I say no? If I still choose not to take it on?” Giving up the mortal realm wasn’t something Sabrina thought she could handle doing.

“You’ve already seen the beginning of what happens if Hell doesn’t have a ruler, Sabrina,” Lilith replied, and Sabrina felt her heart sink. She couldn’t let Hell spill out onto Earth. “If that’s all, I’ll pick up everyone tomorrow at the witching hour?” Zelda nodded and Lilith took a step back, ready to leave.

“Wait. Before that,” Sabrina started and Lilith stopped, wondering what else the girl could possibly need to add. “I need some clay.”

“Clay?” What could they possibly need that for?

Sabrina nodded. “From Hell. To bind Lucifer with.”

Ah. That Lilith could get then. “How much?”

Sabrina glanced over at Ambrose who rose and took one of the empty jars from the drying rack. “About this much?”

Lilith accepted the jar from him, lips pursed at the fact that it was still slightly wet. “I’ll have someone drop that off to you in a few. As well as the dress I picked for you to wear.”

Sabrina arched a brow at that. “You have a dress in my size?”

“It appears your father had several already made for you there,” Lilith informed her, pleased at the disgusted face Sabrina made at that knowledge. “Is that all?”

“For now,” Zelda replied.

Lilith forced another smile before disappearing in a whirl of hellfire.

“Do we trust her?” Hilda asked, looking around at the others.

“Hardly,” Zelda muttered as she sat down again. “I suggest we come up with a plan to ensure we actually make it out of Hell if this abdication does work. Not that I’m certain it will, but we’ll come to that if we need to.” The others nodded to that before Zelda directed her attention toward Sabrina and Ambrose. “Now. What is your plan for Lucifer?”

As Sabrina and Ambrose filled their aunts on the plans for that, Salem entered the kitchen and headed straight for Sabrina, demanding attention. She scooped him up, petting him slowly. It helped add a bit of normalcy back to their household. Almost as if they weren’t talking about body doubles and possessions but what to have for dinner; the kinds of discussions that had permeated the house before her failed Dark Baptism. 

They were all halfway through their slices of pie when Prudence entered. “Rumors are flying about Sabrina calling herself a Morningstar. I thought we were keeping that hush hush?” There were those in the coven who did know--mostly those currently in the room--but the majority of them had been incapacitated and barely hanging on when the Dark Lord had been defeated. 

“And did you really banish a Titan?” she continued as she accepted the slice of pie that Hilda pushed toward her. 

“I’m not sure Typhon is classified as one of the Titans,” Hilda mused as the sound of the twins crying started. “Looks like they’re up from their naps.”

“Indeed.” Zelda rose and looked at Ambrose and Sabrina. “You two are in charge of dishes.”

“Of course, Auntie,” they chorused, pleased that seemed to be the extent of their punishment for keeping secrets so far.

Everyone froze as a creature appeared in the kitchen holding a jar of clay in one hand and a gold dress in the other. He held them out to Sabrina as he bowed, “Your highness.”

Sabrina hurried to take the items from him. “Thanks.” She was happy that he disappeared seconds later. 

“Dishes,” Zelda reiterated as she took the items from Sabrina. “I’ll lay this out so we can make sure there’s no enchantments or curses on it before you wear it.”

Ambrose leaned back in his chair as their aunts headed upstairs. “We still need to figure out what we’re going to wear.”

Sabrina threw her napkin at him, shaking her head as he caught it and then turned to fill Prudence in on everything she’d missed.

* * *

Even trapped inside of the warlock, Lucifer could feel Hell spilling over into the mortal realm. It was reaching farther than Greendale; not that he expected Sabrina to be able to pick up on that just yet. Everything she was feeling and experiencing was so utterly new to her that it would be easy enough to manipulate her newfound abilities how he needed once he was free. He was well aware that there were schemes to transfer him and while he didn’t know what the plan was exactly, he knew they would never be able to find as good a trap as Nicholas Scratch.

He manipulated the mindscape of the boy’s mind, feeling the fight in him--which was stronger than before. It had always been tied back to Sabrina, Nicholas’ steadfast loyalty to his daughter an armor that he couldn’t quite penetrate. But ever since Hell had acknowledged her and donned its powers onto her, Scratch’s ability to break through his illusions had tripled. It was exhilarating and irritating all at once. 

It was almost a shame that he needed to break the boy, but Sabrina really never should have defied him in the first place. 

“Yield,” Lucifer demanded as he layered each painful assault onto the warlock, pleased with the screams both internal and external that Nick cried out. 

“Never.” 

The boy’s voice cut through the darkness and Lucifer narrowed his eyes as he realized Nick was drawing on Sabrina’s powers, using that love he felt for her to cocoon him and take most of the pain. She was a beacon of light in the boy’s mind that he couldn’t stamp out, no matter how hard he tried. 

_Love_. 

How he hated that particular emotion. 

Lucifer focused in on that, latching onto and exploiting every insecurity that Nick had about Sabrina’s love--from the fact she had loved Harvey to all the lies the boy had told her. He worked to dull that beacon she had become, tarnishing as best he could, never quite realizing that it still burned bright, no matter how small he managed to get it to be.

* * *

Sabrina stared at herself in the mirror, trying to find anything in her features that had changed. There was nothing there. Her eyes were the same, hair still as white as snow, and her skin the same it had always been. It was just the power that flowed through her body, encompassing her in a way that she had never quite felt before. She was restless, unable to quiet her mind enough to try and get sleep. 

There had been a tugging sensation that she had been feeling for a while now as well, like wind brushing by her, or her shirt catching briefly on a branch while walking through the woods. Unlike those though it was almost...comforting? She figured that was the best word to describe it as she glanced over at Salem who was laying on the toilet.

He meowed. 

“Your guess is as good as mine, Salem.”

Another meow and she canted her head. “I don’t know why you think I understand this any better than you do.”

She turned on the hot water for the bath finally and looked through the various bath solutions her Aunt Hilda had stocked, attempting to decide which to help calm her body best. The tugging feeling was back though, and she turned at it, trying to pinpoint which direction it was coming from, and gasped as she spotted Nick leaning against the bathtub.

“Nick?”

He looked like he was nearly going to pass out. She didn’t understand how he was there but she moved to his side, hands passing through him. “I don’t…how are you even?”

“I didn’t know if this would work,” he murmured, attempting a smile to cover as he winced. “Astral projection.”

Sabrina knew it had to be taking a lot of magical energy to be able to do this in his current state. “What’s going on?” Because she didn’t think he would be reaching out and using this much energy unless it was dire.

Nick shrugged and she wanted to fall for that grin of his, but she wasn’t buying it. “I’m okay, Spellman.” 

“What is he doing?” It had to be bad for Nick to have risked a brief escape like this.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” He rested his hand on the floor near hers, as close to contact as they could manage in this state. “I just. I wanted to see you.” He’d needed to with all the lies the Dark Lord was continuously bombarding him with. 

“I miss you.” She couldn’t stop the tears that started to fall.

“Don’t cry, Sabrina.” He wanted to wipe them away and reached up to touch her but his hand passed through.

“I’ve missed your smile and the way you hold me. Your laugh and your knowledge about everything witch related, that you always are eager to share. Just sitting with you at the Academy or Dorian’s or in my room.” Just him _there_ , existing and free.

“I’ve missed how excited you get over mortal things and how you always wanted to know all of me. How you like all of me.” Witch side, mortal side. He’d never been afraid of her or her power. Never tried to hold her back. “You were always at my side.” Helping her, bolstering her. He had been walking down the path with her for the last few months and she appreciated that more than she’d ever been able to say. Answering her questions, challenging her in new ways.

“I miss you so much that it hurts, but we’re going to get him out of you.” She tried to touch him again, but it didn’t work. “I just need a few more hours.”

“I can wait,” Nick assured her, looking stronger than he had when he’d first appeared. 

Sabrina brushed the tears from her eyes. “I love you.” 

His smile was everything in that moment, light seeming to encompass him from the inside out. “I love you, Sabrina.”

They sat in silence for a few seconds, the light flowing around them and Sabrina comforted in a way she hadn’t for some time. “I’m going back to Hell and giving Lilith the crown,” she told him. “I don’t know if it’ll work. I don’t think..” She didn’t think it would, not with everything that was happening. Otherwise it wouldn’t have reacted the way it had to her sudden presence. “I don’t want to live…” She would though. If it meant keeping them all safe.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to,” Nick grimaced, darkness beginning to surround him. “Do you remember your father’s manifesto?”

“Of course, but I don’t…”

Nick clenched his fists, knowing his time there was dwindling. “What if you’re the Morningstar he was talking about?” 

And then he was gone. 

“Nick?” 

She stared at the spot he’d been in and couldn’t stop the sobs that started, hugging herself tightly as she shook from the force of them. Vaguely she heard Salem pawing at the bathroom door. It opened moments later, Zelda’s voice questioning what was happening, before kneeling down beside her and pulling Sabrina tightly against her.

“I’ve got you,” Zelda murmured against her hair and Sabrina clung to her aunt, finally allowing herself to grieve for everything that had happened in the last few weeks and the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

* * *

“Everyone remembers the plan?” Zelda asked as she glanced at each of them, waiting for a nod before moving onto the next. In her opinion the chances of this going well were rather low. From all that Sabrina had been able to do since signing the Book of the Beast, Zelda didn’t think Hell would so easily give her up, not even if it was what she wanted to happen. “Good. She should be here any minute.”

Hilda sat on the sofa, trying to drink her tea to calm the nervous energy that coursed through her while Zelda resumed smoking her cigarette. Sabrina moved toward where Ambrose stood by the window, looking out at the graveyard. “I still find it unfair that you get something new to wear and we’re stuck with this,” He glanced at his and the aunts outfits, “Peasantry.”

Sabrina shook her head. “You love wearing that.” 

Ambrose groaned, brushing his hands along the red tunic. “Exactly, cousin. I’ve worn it before. It's hardly suitable for a coronation in Hell.”

Sabrina patted his shoulder. “Well, when you go there to abdicate your throne you’ll get a brand new outfit to wear.” 

He snorted at her answer before looking her over again. It was more intricate than the one she’d worn a few weeks back, though gold as well. This one had an embroidered upside down cross in the middle of her breast, pentagons woven with gold thread locking in intricate patterns from the top to the bottom. “I’m surprised it's not red.” 

“I think gold is supposed to be royalty or something.” Sabrina shrugged. She honestly didn’t have a clue, but after a quick glance back at the Aunties to make sure they were occupied, she leaned closer to Ambrose. “I saw Nick last night. I didn’t go there, he astral projected to me.”

“He was able to manage that?” It would have taken incredible strength and determination to do so in his current state.

“Yeah. He...you remember my father’s manifesto?” Sabrina asked, trying not to pull on the dress. Fashion wasn’t the most comfortable. Ambrose nodded. “Nick said something that...bring about the era of the Morningstar, remember?” She paused, trying to remember the wording. “Only the true union of mortals and their witch brethren will bring the era of the Morningstar.”

“Sabrina,” Ambrose started, not particularly liking where this conversation seemed to be headed. 

“What if that’s what I’m supposed to do? What if I’m that Morningstar?” Because it couldn’t be the Dark Lord. He looked down on both mortal and witchkind, saw both as nothing more than playthings. But she didn’t. She had feet in both worlds, had struggled with how to build a bridge between them, and wanted to bring them together. 

“Those were just things that Uncle Edward _wanted_ to have happened, Sabrina,” he told her, trying to be gentle with his words. “They’re how he wished the church would steer toward, not an actual path that is destined to be.”

“But what if it is?” she persisted. “My mom baptised me and he signed my name in the book. What if he knew that the Dark Lord hadn’t just blessed them with a child, but that he’d actually impregnated my mom himself? What if that’s why he asked for the Dark Lord’s blessing all along? To help bring about the era he knew could come.”

“That’s a lot of what ifs, Sabrina. And we’re about to go to Hell and you’re going to give the crown to Lilith.” Ambrose stopped talking and stared hard at her. “Tell me, that you’re going to give the crown to Lilith.”

“I am,” Sabrina assured, and Ambrose breathed a sigh of relief. It was rather short lived. “I just don’t think Hell is going to accept it.”

Ambrose took a deep breath as he tried to come up with the words to say to that, but it was too late. Lilith had appeared in their living room. Her dress was even more ornate than Sabrina’s, a corset of bones trapping a bloody red heart against her chest. She removed the golden bone crown from her head and handed it to the minion that was at her side. 

“I see we’re all ready to go.” 

They were teleported in a swirl of Hellfire before arriving in the middle of an empty throne room. “If the three of you could stand over there and Sabrina over here.” Lilith beckoned toward her side in front of the large throne that rested in the middle of the room on top of a platform made of skulls. 

“It’s so cheery,” Sabrina mumbled, not as taken in by any of it as Ambrose and Zelda seemed to be. Their expressions were awestruck for a moment, glancing around at the opulence of the throne room in Pandemonium. She knew that it was a dream for most witches and warlocks to one day receive an audience there with Lucifer, to see the inside of the unholiest city, but it only caused her heart to race. 

That pull of home was back and Hilda squeezed her hand tightly. “We’re here for you,” she reminded, giving another squeeze before following the other two over. 

“Now,” Lilith started, guiding Sabrina toward where she needed her. “You’ll state who you are, renounce your claim to the throne, and then let them know you’re crowning me as queen instead. Understood?”

“Got it,” Sabrina nodded, even as she crossed her fingers behind her back. She wanted that to be how it went, but didn’t quite trust any of it just yet. 

Lilith turned toward the doors and waved at the minions standing there to open them. The aristocracy of Hell began filing into the room and Sabrina spotted the Plague Kings among them and countless other demons that she couldn’t name. She could hear Ambrose doing so though off to the side, his giddy excitement over all of it causing her to smile slightly. 

There was a chorus of whispers, murmurings of her name, of simply ‘the princess,’ as they took their places along the golden half circle seared into the floor. The rush of power from their bowed heads and just their proximity nealy overwhelmed her, but she focused on the hellfire lit lantern above the doorway and remembered to keep breathing. “Now that we’re all here,” Lilith began, taking a step forward to present Sabrina. “May I present to you, Sabrina Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer Morningstar--”

“And Diana Spellman,” Sabrina added, ignoring the look Lilith gave her at that. 

“Proud Lady of Pandemonium, our Lady of Shadows,” Lilith continued as though she hadn’t spoken. “Princess of Chaos, Bringer of Night.” 

It was a chorus of ‘Hail Sabrinas’ and she glanced over at her aunts, taking in Zelda’s look of pride at the entirety of the situation. Lilith raised her hands, beckoning the chorus to stop. “I believe the princess has something she wishes to say.”

Sabrina nodded. “I am Sabrina Morningstar, true heir to Hell, by blood and by birth.” There were murmurings of agreement from the demons and she took a deep breath, knowing the next part wouldn’t be taken as happily. “And I am giving it to Lilith, Mother of Monsters--”

There was an eruption of shouts at that, the ground rumbling in disagreement to her words. The Spellmans readied for a fight, protection spells whirling around them as Lilith pinched her nose at the display. Sabrina merely rolled her eyes and tried to wait for the place and its inhabitants to quiet down, but neither seemed to be happening. Obviously crowning Lilith wasn’t going to appease them or Hell it seemed. Which meant, plan B. _Her_ plan B that didn’t mean staying in Hell for all eternity. 

Ice covered the ground and began to rise up the sides of the throne room, encroaching on the ceiling, and beginning to freeze the aristocracy of Hell as well. They wailed at the injustice of it.

“She’s not a Morningstar.”

“She has no right to Hell.”

“It balks at her rule.”

“You cannot deny your birthright.”

Ice shot up, slicing through the ground and into the aristocracy of Hell and where the Spellmans stood. They stumbled to get out of the way, sliding across the floor and howling in pain as ice ripped through a few demons. She had never been so happy that her aunties and Ambrose had been carrying protection charms, the ice missing them completely. Roars of countless creatures could be heard in the distance, things Sabrina didn’t even have a name for yet waking up from centuries of slumber as Hell made it’s feelings known. 

She narrowed her eyes as she took it all in, the energy in the room charged like it had been at the school, whirling around her as it had when she’d taken on Typhon. This kind of chaos wouldn’t do at all. It meant devastation for her family and friends, for the world above. 

“ _Enough_ ,” Sabrina shouted, sending out a shockwave of energy that knocked everyone to the floor and suspended the chandelier that had come loose in the chaos. It was as if time stopped briefly, everything in mid shake, her voice echoing off the throne room’s walls. “Let me finish. I am assigning the throne and rule to Lilith, Mother of Monsters, while I will continue my duties on Earth.”

Everyone was murmuring to one another, wondering if that was even possible to do. “What are you doing?” Lilith asked and Sabrina shrugged. 

“Clearly Hell isn’t accepting you right now if the whole trembling earth and ice thing is any indication,” Sabrina whispered. “So I have to improvise.” She could sense the chaos from the realm begin to recede, the frenzy of energy lessening at her words, accepting at least temporarily that she wasn’t giving up Hell. “And at least Hell itself seems to be okay with it.” 

The demons on the other hand. 

“What duties on Earth?” Beelzebub asked as the Plague Kings stepped forward.

“Your duties are here, in Hell,” Asmodeous continued.

“Not on earth with the mortals,” Purson finished for them.

“Considering the three of you attempted to kill me, I suggest you don’t offer up advice when you clearly weren’t privy to everything the Dark Lord was involved in doing,” Sabrina snapped back, pleased when they sunk back into the shadows. 

“Will you accept the task of ruling in my absence, Lilith? As…” She looked toward her aunts and Ambrose, having no idea what the term would be. 

“Regent?” Hilda suggested, taking a step forward. “Often when a new monarch isn’t old enough a regent is appointed to help them learn their duties and rule when they cannot.”

“Perfect. Regent then.” Sabrina paused, and then looked over at Lilith. “Will you accept the role?”

“Gladly.” Though she was anything but. 

“Perfect. That’s settled then. Lilith will be my regent in Hell and I will rule in my father’s place. From earth.” Sabrina looked out at the demons, lifting her chin as she assessed them. “Does anyone object?” Her gaze stopped on the Plague Kings. No one made a sound.

Lilith motioned for Sabrina to take a step forward as she had expected to be doing in that moment. She lifted the crown from its resting place and unlike before when she had put it on her own head, placed it on top of Sabrina’s. “All hail, Sabrina Morningstar, Queen of Hell.”

The chandelier righted itself, ice completely gone, no sound of the other monsters could be heard any longer. The cracks that had persisted smoothed over, leaving the throne room shining as it had when first built. The chorus of Sabrina’s name echoed through the room as Lilith led her to the throne and watched the girl sit down upon it. She turned toward the crowd of demons, half clapping as she glared at the building and how easily everything had been ripped out from under her again.

Hell would pay for this indignity. She’d make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I did Zelda's frustration with Sabrina justice because their relationship is one of my favorites. As is the dynamics of all the relationships in the Spellman household. And now Sabrina is Queen, which will bring about its own issues.
> 
> Next chapter will have some more Spellmans and Lilith, the Fright club, and dealing with the Dark Lord inside of Nick.


	5. Chapter 5

_“Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together?  
Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences.”  
_

The throne room was finally empty of the various demons, even the minions had vacated the place leaving the Spellmans alone with Lilith. It hadn’t gone how any of them had wanted, but Hell seemed to accept the current status quo, though Lilith knew that would only last for so long unless certain parameters were put into place.

Sabrina removed the crown from her head as she slid off the throne and placed it down on the seat. She ruffled her hair. “I don’t know how anyone constantly wears that,” she murmured and Lilith bit back a nasty retort, turning away from the little family. 

“You were magnificent,” Zelda told Sabrina as she moved to study the detail in the throne. Ambrose was heading toward the statues and other objects lining the walls, while Hilda kept to the seat she’d found, more than ready to leave. 

“I really don't want this,” Sabrina started as she moved to stand by Lilith. “We figure out how to get Hell to accept you and not go all crazy freezing over and you can have it. But that obviously wasn’t happening today.” 

Lilith hated that the teen had a point. If they had forced the issue, Hell might have fractured completely, there would have been riots, and then what would she have to look forward to ruling? But that didn’t mean she liked being subservient to another Morningstar. “Maybe when I get Lucifer back here, you can puppet him around however you like and it’ll go back to the status quo before my blood and all.” 

Oh how Lilith hoped it would be that easy. “Can we go? I have a test tomorrow,” Sabrina continued, plus they needed to free Nick. 

“Did you see this, Aunties?” Ambrose called out, unable to contain his excitement. “Judas’ coins. The stone of Cain! The actual stone that he used to kill his brother.” Zelda had moved over to look at the various items with him. 

“We have an entire pit named after him but yes, let’s look at the stone,” Hilda muttered as her sister motioned for her to join them.

“We’re going to need to create an actual schedule of my teaching you about Hell and your duties,” Lilith told Sabrina. “You may have shamed the Kings into the shadows for now, but they won’t be down long.”

“Sundays I’ll come to Hell. How’s that?” Sabrina looked over toward her aunts to see if they were fine with the plan. 

“One of the family will accompany her,” Zelda replied, not bothering to turn toward them as they examined the next item. 

Sabrina nearly spoke to dispute that; she didn’t need the protection, but knew it would be no use. Plus she didn’t want to get into another round with her Aunt about taking ridiculous risks. 

Their loyalty toward one another managed to be grating and endearing all at once. Lilith had never truly experienced anything like it. Even Stolas had turned against her in the end, informing the Dark Lord of everything. “One night as well. There will be duties you’ll need to take care of here that will be required during the witching hour.”

“Sunday night should work for that,” Zelda agreed, finally turning toward the two and heading that way. “We can excuse you from Academy classes in the morning and you can attend your mortal ones in the afternoon if any duties cause you to need more time.”

Weekends were going to suck, but if it meant less monsters breaking free from Hell then Sabrina could manage it. “Now where will she be staying?” Zelda continued, crossing her arms as she regarded Lilith. “What protective measures will be put in place?”

“Protective measures?” Lilith waved around. “Hell will guard her while she’s here. Nothing will be able to lay a hand on her in this realm. As for on Earth…” She looked over at Sabrina.”Your power level has increased, has it not?” Enough that she couldn’t take it away now.

“Yeah,” Sabrina nodded. “I think I can do more than before.”

“I doubt you could so easily give it away now either.” If only that was an option. “You may still bleed and be able to be harmed but I know of nothing that could kill you.”

“What about the spear of Longinus?” Wasn’t that what Lucifer had said would kill him back when they had first attacked him in the woods.

Lilith paused. “I honestly don’t know. Nor do I know where the Dark Lord hid it. But you’re not exactly a celestial, nor are you mortal or witch.”

“What am I then?” It was a question Sabrina had struggled with all of her life. One she thought she might struggle with forever.

Lilith touched her cheek. “Queen of Hell.” 

“A Spellman,” Zelda reaffirmed and Sabrina looked over at her aunt. No matter what she was always that.

“How about a tour?” Hilda piped up. “I would like to see where she’ll be staying that one night a week.”

“And the library. Think of the unholy texts that must be kept here,” Ambrose clapped his hands together. “What else? There’s so much to see.” He looked over at them, pressing his hands to his mouth as he turned around, trying to take it all in. “I should have made a list.”

“This way,” Lilith motioned for them to follow her, ready to get the damn pleasantries over with.

* * *

Fright club had convened in its usual booth at Dr. Cerebus, though the milkshakes that they had ordered were largely untouched as they took in everything Sabrina had filled them in one. They all were in differening degrees of shock and acceptance. Roz slowly nodding as she replayed the words Sabrina had said while Harvey leaned back against the booth, his expression one of complete confusion, and Theo was playing with the straw wrapper and giving Sabrina a few side long glances.

“So, you’re queen of Hell?” Theo asked, needing to make sure that part had been accurate.

“And there are mythological creatures in Hell that can escape from it?” Roz continued as Harvey made another face. 

“For now,” Sabrina nodded and then looked at Roz. “And yeah, but that shouldn’t be an issue anymore. They’ve gone back to being dormant.”

“And how much of a guarantee is there that they’ll stay that way?” Harvey finally asked and Sabrina shrugged.

“I don’t have any plans to release them so I’d say pretty high.” It was weird to think about the fact that she had a say in that.

“What does it mean that you’re queen?” Roz pushed forward after the silence had fallen.

Sabrina swirled her straw in the milkshake. “I honestly have no idea. I mean I know I’m in charge of deals now and keeping the big monsters in line I guess? And every Sunday I have to go there to learn about everything involved.”

“You have to go to Hell?” Theo dropped the wrapper at that.

“And spend the night on Sunday.”

A collective shiver ran through the other three, each remembering how awful it had been for them. They hadn’t told Sabrina but they still had nightmares of their brief time there, of the things they had seen and felt. The idea of her having to return to it was terrifying.

“Aunt Zelda made it a rule that I can’t go alone so basically she’s alternating with Ambrose for who goes with me every weekend,” Sabrina murmured before finally taking a sip. She was grateful for that request, not comfortable at all about heading back down into that demon’s den on her own. Especially because it felt nice being there and she didn’t like that one bit.

“What about your Aunt Hilda?” Harvey moved his shake closer to him but didn’t bother trying it.

“She doesn’t seem as interested in being there as them.” No point in hurrying up the inevitable was what her auntie had said, but Sabrina knew Hilda wasn’t as comfortable with that aspect of their lives as Zelda and Ambrose were. “It’ll be fine guys. Its one day and night. I’ll still be coming to school and we can do movies and everything we usually do.” Probably. Hopefully.

They didn’t seem as convinced about that but nodded along. “And tonight we’re getting the Dark Lord out of Nick. So we’re one step closer to things going back to the way they were.”

Even if it felt less like anything would ever return to how things used to be. Sabrina wasn’t even sure which part she wanted to go all the way back to. Not before her Dark Baptism. Then there would be no Nick. To that small space of time before she’d learned she was the herald of Hell, that happy place when Roz was healed, Zelda wasn’t brainwashed and Ambrose was free, Nick was safe and happy, and she had been proselytizing her father’s tenants to the coven.

Couldn’t they encapsulate that perfect moment again?

“Do you need anything from us for that?” Roz asked, breaking Sabrina from her thoughts. 

“Just make sure I have a lot of coffee in the morning because we’re waiting until the witching hour to up the magic potential.” It would work. It had to. “Now come on, guys. We cannot waste this ice cream goodness. Especially not when things are finally going right again.”

Theo raised his glass up and the others followed suit, tapping their glasses together. “All hail the queen of Hell.”

* * *

“And you’re sure this will work?” Sabrina asked as they headed into the abandoned hunting lodge. 

“The mandrake was a decent idea but I’m not sure if it would bleed out just Lucifer or Nick’s powers and leave him helpless to Lucifer taking over,” Ambrose explained as he set down the jar of clay on a chair. “We should be able to transfer Lucifer into the golem and then with all of us working together, bind him to it, knock him out, and enact endless sleep.”

Sabrina nodded, taking in Nick sitting in the middle of the salt circle. His body language was all wrong, the look in his eyes as he tracked their movements not his own. “Giving the crown to Lilith didn’t work, did it, daughter?” 

She glared at him, not bothering to answer as she helped take the ingredients from Hilda who had entered, followed by Zelda and the Weird Sisters. “Well, that’s not at all entirely too creepy,” Hilda murmured, lining up the bottles for Ambrose to use. 

“There’s only so long you can keep balking at your duties, Sabrina,” he continued. “No matter the deals you believe you have made, Hell will always call you home, and your blood will listen.”

It wasn’t what she wanted to hear but she tried not to outwardly react to his words. “He might try and offer up different things to you if you’ll just help him get out, but ignore it,” Sabrina warned them as she stepped back to let Ambrose start on the Golem. “He can’t carry out any deals now anyway.”

He laughed at that, the sound off as it came from Nick’s mouth, and Prudence looked at her sisters before shuddering. “You weren’t lying about it being weird,” she murmured to Sabrina. “Shall I put him to sleep for a bit so we don’t have to deal with needless prattle?” 

“ _Please_.” Sabrina didn’t want to hear any further insights from the Dark Lord. 

The sisters glanced between one another before working in sync to carry out the simple spell, pleased when Nick’s body slumped unconscious to the floor. As soon as it hit the ground, Sabrina stumbled as her consciousness was ripped from her again. She really hated this little trick. 

A woman’s screams echoed throughout the mindscape and Sabrina whirled around, spotting the person it must have belonged to in the shadows. Her eyes reminded Sabrinaof Nick’s, the small boy hiding in the closet with a werewolf, confirming Sabrina’s suspicions that it must have been Nick’s mother. Amalia pressed a hand to the boy’s mouth as the woman’s throat was slashed before pulling him deeper into the shadows. 

“You should have saved me,” the woman accused, pointing a hand toward the Nick she knew who watched the scene loop back to the beginning.

Sabrina moved to run to him, to break the cycle, but she was rooted to the spot. “Ah, ah, ah,” Lucifer chided from behind her. “We haven’t gotten to my favorite part.” 

The image of Nick’s mother shifted into her, sitting on the throne of Hell and looking down at Nick. Harvey was in the throne next to her, a crown on his head. “As if I would ever choose you for anything Nicholas. Not when you constantly lied to me on the Dark Lord’s orders.” 

The image of her reached over and slid her fingers down Harvey’s arm. “You were only ever a distraction from who I really wanted anyway.”

“Sabrina.” Nick sounded so lost then.

“That’s not true.” She’d been hurt beyond belief when the truth had come out, but he had never been a distraction. She had been intrigued by him since she’d first stepped into the Academy and she’d fallen for him as they had grown closer. 

“ _Nick_ ,” Sabrina called out, thrashing at the restraints Lucifer had placed on her. It took some effort but she broke through them as Nick looked back at her. “You were never a distraction.” His expression was pained, face wet with tears, but she saw the relief that swept through him at the sight of her. 

“Sabrina,” he breathed out and she felt the same pull that she had before in the bathroom as he reached toward her. She gave into it then, blinking as wisps of energy flowed from her toward him. The bonds holding him in place shattered as her light washed over him and Sabrina had to close her eyes at the high it drew out of her.

“One’s first true worship is quite euphoric,” Lucifer said and she jumped at how close he was to her. “I can only imagine it's even more so with how deeply he feels for you. Careful though, Lilith felt the same for me and just look at how that worked out for her.”

“Because you treated her as a plaything,” Sabrina countered as she glared at him.

“She wasn’t my equal, just as he isn’t yours. None of them are.” Images of her aunts and Ambrose, her mortal friends and even Prudence shifted in front of her. “You’ll learn that soon enough.”

“They’re my family.” And that mattered to her more than anything.

“ _I_ am your family,” Lucifer shouted, his voice reverberating through the mindscape and pushing Sabrina back out to her own mind. 

Hilda caught her as she stumbled. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine,” Sabrina assured her, giving Hilda’s arm a squeeze as she looked at the others. The faceless body made of clay was in the circle by Nick’s prone form. “Are we ready?”

“We need your blood, cousin,” Ambrose told her, holding out the knife. “It’ll ensure it's Lucifer who’s transferred and not Nick.”

“You’re sure about that?”Sabrina asked as she stepped into the circle and stood over the golem.

Ambrose nodded and Sabrina raised her hand over the clay figure, waiting for the signal. She trusted Ambrose. “Wake him,” Ambrose told Prudence as the others got into their spots on the outside of the circle and he stepped inside of it beside Sabrina. 

Everyone did their part like clockwork, the Weird Sisters waking Nick as Sabrina cut into her palm and dropping the blood onto the golem, her aunts and Ambrose beginning the transfer spell. Nick’s body strained against the magic as Lucifer fought for control, but their voices rose in unison, drawing him out. He fought with the magic pushing him toward the golem and they swayed with the push and pull. Sabrina locked hands with Ambrose and looked over at her Aunts who did the same on the outside of the protective circle with the Weird Sisters. 

Sabrina closed her eyes and pushed the energy outward toward them that Nick had been able to pull from her, giving them all a temporary boost to their powers. Magic swelled in the room, supercharged all around them, as they focused on the Dark Lord and pushed him into the other body. 

Lucifer drew a breath inside the golem, gasping for air and Ambrose quickly enacted the sleeping spell again as Nick sputtered on the other side, coughing up copious amounts of black goo. Ambrose caught Sabrina’s wrist as she made to move to him, shaking his head as he continued to chant the binding spell. 

She focused on that and drew on her newfound powers, working them into it to add the strength needed to keep Lucifer trapped and asleep. Ambrose finally let go of her as they all stopped chanting and she ran to Nick, hugging him tightly as he leaned against her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing his face into her neck, as the others moved about. 

“Spellman,” he murmured as they shifted slightly, foreheads touching even as his body trembled.

She vaguely heard the others murmurings around them, talk of the power that was slowly trickling out of them. “What _was_ that?” Agatha asked, drawing her hand down her other arm.

“I think that was Sabrina,” Prudence murmured as she inhaled deeply. It had been a rush like nothing she had experienced before. Dorcas and Agatha exchanged looks before glancing over at Sabrina with newfound appreciation.

“Come on you two,” Hilda urged as she offered a hand toward her niece, and Sabrina helped Nick get to his feet. “Let’s get you both home.”

“You need a bath, Nicky,” Prudence told him, wrinkling her nose as she stepped back to give Sabrina some room.

“Good to see you too, Pru,” he replied as he leaned against Sabrina, offering Prudence a small smile when she touched his arm. 

“Let’s go home,” Sabrina murmured, before looking back at the bound and sleeping Lucifer. “And let Lilith know she can come claim him.” Nick’s grip tightened on her. 

“We’ll put a few more binding spells on this place and join you shortly,” Zelda informed her, looking toward Ambrose for confirmation with that. The last thing they needed was for the Dark Lord to get out after all of their work. She would feel infinitely better once he was Lilith’s problem to contain again. 

“Endless sleep should do it, but better safe than sorry,” Ambrose agreed, glancing over toward Prudence who nodded. Her and her sisters would stay to help.

* * *

Hilda placed Judas back into the cradle, confident that he would manage to sleep for the next few hours. His sister was already down, little Leticia--because Zelda refused to call her Judith--wasn’t as fussy as her brother. They would need to figure out exactly what was going to happen with the twins. Would they be raised as the other orphans had been? Or adopted out into the coven? Prudence would need to have a say and while Hilda knew Zelda would like to raise the two herself, with the duties as High Priestess and the mortuary and Sabrina’s rule of Hell, Hilda didn’t think they would be able to truly offer the twins the attention they needed. 

“We’re going to need to deal with the coven's questions tomorrow,” Zelda started as she entered the room. “I put off Sabrina calling herself a Morningstar as long as I could but I don’t think I’ll be able to much longer.”

“Are we telling them the truth then?” There was a lot of truth to tell.

“What? That we defeated the Dark Lord, banishing him to the depths of Hell?” Zelda asked, stopping in front of Leticia’s cradle.”No. They’ve already heard of her fetes with the witch hunters, the Greendale thirteen. And the children experienced everything in that desecrated church. They saw her raise the dead. Melvin and Elspeth owe her their lives. I think it's enough to let them know that the Dark Lord is her father and she has a connection to Hell. One that can benefit our community.”

HIlda had been nodding along until the last part. “Will it though? Is that what she wants to do?”

Zelda looked up from brushing back the baby’s curls. “Of course she’ll want to help the coven, Hilda.”

“No, I know, she will.” She hadn’t quite said what she meant. “But we may want to see what it is that Sabrina wants to do or tell them.” She remembered their niece bringing up her father’s way earlier in the week. Edward’s. 

Zelda arched a brow. “I’d say she’ll be rather busy these next few days with Nicholas.”

Hilda scrunched her nose at that. “And we’re letting him stay in her room?”

“Oh Hildy,” Zelda shook her head. “They’re two consenting adults. I dare say the poor boy probably needs sex after all he endured.”

Hilda pursed her lips. “She’s sixteen and a few months back Harvey was the love of her life.”

“Harvey isn’t the one she has done everything possible for to rescue from Hell,” Zelda reminded, as she walked away from the cradles. “Knowing full well that if Lucifer was to escape, there would be nothing but misery for her. Harvey was a stepping stone.”

Hilda had always thought he had been a lovely boy. She couldn’t deny that the Scratch one did seem to care for Sabrina. “And Nicholas?” 

Zelda shrugged. “That’s for her to figure out.”

“What about them?” Hilda asked, looking back at the twins.

Zelda arched a brow, unsure what her sister meant. Or at least not willing to entertain what she meant. “What _about_ them?”

“Zelda.” Hilda gave her a pointed look.

“We’ll manage.” And that was it. Hilda knew there would be no more discussion about the matter right then. “Now, I need a bath.” 

Hilda watched her go before looking back at the twins. She’d just need to bring it up again in a few days time.

* * *

They laid on the bed, curled toward one another. Their foreheads touching, one hand entwined with the other’s, while Sabrina’s free hand was curled tightly in Nicholas’ shirt. He laid his against her cheek, thumb brushing slow circles against her skin. They hadn’t said anything since they had entered the house and he’d taken a bath and changed into some clothes she’d managed to procure from his old room at the Academy. 

It was enough in that moment to simply exist, no Dark Lord in the recesses of his mind, no one around to pull either of their strings. She brought his hand up to her lips and gently pressed them against it. He tilted her chin toward him and leaned in, kissing her, gently at first, but the need to _feel_ took over and Nick deepened it, tugging Sabrina on top of him as he rolled onto his back. Tongue seeking entrance to her mouth as her hands moved to tangle in his curls, his own sliding down her back and stroking the skin that peeked out as her pajama top rose slightly. 

He wanted to get lost in her, to feel nothing but the press of her body against his, to hear nothing but the sound of her gasps of pleasure, to worship her in the best way that he knew how. But she was pulling him with her as she rolled onto her back. He left her mouth, kissing his way down her neck and to the bit of collarbone that he could taste. 

“Nick,” Sabrina breathed out, practically humming as she pressed her head back into the pillows, straining her neck to give him more access. 

It was his name that she said, not Harvey’s like the Dark Lord had taunted him with more times than he liked to remember. She tugged at his shirt, hands sliding against his back now, and he moved to go lower but she tugged again, cupping his face in her hands. “Can we just…I need to hold you.” 

He stared at her, knowing that look in her eyes, the one that said ‘I don’t trust that this is really happening yet’, afraid to wake up and this be another dream turned nightmare. Nick pulled her on top of him again, but this time he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close as she snuggled into his chest and gripped him back just as tightly. 

They breathed together, silence drawing out comfortably around them as they clung to one other. Sabrina drew her fingers against his shirt, outlining a pentagram over his heart as she struggled for the words she needed to say. She remembered the pull of her powers toward him, the rush as he took them into him, gaining strength from what she had given. She’d doled it out to the others as well briefly to bolster them but it hadn’t felt like it did with him. 

_One’s first true worship is quite euphoric_. 

“I was so scared that I’d never see you again,” Sabrina whispered, her voice barely audible. His grip tightened on her and she closed her eyes as she pressed her lips quickly to his chest.

“Thinking about you was what got me through it.” She was also the one thing that Lucifer liked to exploit in his head the most, but the connection he felt to Sabrina helped pull him through the darkest of the moments. Especially after she had come to Hell and everything had ignited inside of her. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster,” Sabrina started and Nick shifted so that they were facing one another again.

“ _No,_ ” he told her, shaking his head. He wouldn’t have her blame herself for any of it. 

She kissed him then, putting every inch of emotion into it, the desperation of the past weeks at not being able to help, how much the loss of his presence in her life had affected her. He gave back tenfold, the intensity of emotions between them climbing as his shirt was tossed to the floor. Nick pressed her back against the mattress, cradling her head between his hands as they continued to kiss. Her hands were back in his curls, neither of them willing to let go of the other, but he kept his focus on her mouth, not wanting to risk breaking this connection again. 

He needed her like breathing, just being with her calming the rage that had been boiling inside of him since he’d binded the Dark Lord inside of him. It was true that Sabrina sparked a passion inside of him but she’d managed to calm him unlike anyone else, to temper the fire that he’d always felt burning inside of him since his parents had died. He had a feeling that was why Amalia had seen her as a threat, why Sabrina had been the only one of those he’d grown close to that his former familiar had ever tried to attack. She’d scared plenty of others and him as well with her proximity but Sabrina had been the one Amalia had known she would lose him to.

Nick knew he’d been bound to Sabrina Spellman as soon as he’d heard her sing. Her voice ignited in him a need that he had never known before. It hadn’t hurt that she was beautiful, fearless. How could he have not fallen for her? He never could have imagined that she would fall for him as well. But he felt the same need, the same sense of longing, of _belonging_ in her touch, in the way she spoke with him, in the looks she gave him. Feeling her again, seeing her again, helped blot out the images he had been bombarded with, the ones that had left dark marks on his soul.

Eventually they simply laid in the bed together with Sabrina curled up against him. There were a million questions to ask him, but she felt Nick’s breathing evening out even as his grip on her tightened. She lifted her chin and reached up, brushing his cheek as she saw that his eyes were closed. 

Her attention shifted to Salem watching them from her nightstand. “We have to watch for him tonight, okay, Salem?” 

Protect him from nightmares that she knew would linger. She pulled one of the balls of dreamless herbs that Hilda had been making for her but that she hadn’t used over the last few weeks and tucked it under the pillows, careful not to wake Nick. 

Tomorrow they could talk. For now Nick deserved to finally rest.

* * *

Lucifer laid in the dark, quietly unworking the various spells that had been placed on the body that he was currently trapped in. He had to give it to them, it was a good plan and one that could have worked if he wasn’t who he was. Without Mr. Scratch’s continuous battling though, he was free to work on extracting himself from the body. 

He called on the powers of Hell, smiling as he felt them flowing toward their master. He also whispered into the wind, sending out his desire for one of the mortals who’s soul he’d procured long ago in sleepy little Greendale to come and do his bidding. There was only so much time before Lilith would arrive to cart the body off to Hell and Lucifer didn’t mean to be around when that happened. 

He would deal with his traitorous lover in due time.

It didn’t take long for his call to be answered in the form of the Baxter high football coach. It always did amaze the Dark Lord just how many coaches sold their souls for a paltry few winning seasons. 

The coach broke the salt circle and Lucifer materialized outside of the Golem, dressed as he had been for the coronation that hadn’t gone as planned. He waved his hand and sent the coach into the golem’s body, muttering his own bindings to keep the man from being able to speak. He weaved enough magic into the form, letting a trace of his celestial being remain behind. Just enough to fool anyone testing it for his presence being locked inside. 

“Don’t worry,” Lucifer started as he kneeled over the golem, patting its cheek as he placed the coach into endless sleep. “I’ll still ensure Baxter high continues to win.” He rose. “At least until I burn this town to the ground.”

Because Sabrina would learn there were consequences to defying him even as he worked to ensure her rise in glory. 

Lucifer stepped out of the circle and righted the salt before disappearing into the darkness. He had a few matters to deal with before a visit with his daughter would be in order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now Nick is free. And unfortunately so is the Dark Lord.
> 
> There is a lot more Nick and Sabrina in the next chapter. Plus some more Spellmans, Lilith, Lucifer, and more Nick and Sabrina. Because every chapter basically needs all of the Nick and Sabrina.


	6. Chapter 6

_"Maybe we are broken.  
But we put ourselves back together.  
We survived.  
That’s what makes us so powerful."  
_

Nick stiffened as soon as he woke, heartbeat racing in his chest. How many times had he woken exactly like this before with Sabrina in his arms and it turned out to be nothing but a cruel lie? He’d look down and blood would be everywhere, her lifeless and the blood staining his hands. Or her screaming his name as he was dragged back to the pits, watching the Dark Lord devour her from above.

He kept his eyes closed, arm tightening around her as he willed everything that had happened in the last few hours to be real. Slowly he took in the sounds he’d never heard before in any of those illusions. Salem purring on the pillow by his head, the clattering of pots and pans from somewhere below, rain against the window. There was the smell of pancakes too and when he slowly breathed in and the scent of Sabrina’s shampoo in the air. None of those details had been in anything Lucifer had managed. 

Slowly he allowed himself to peek out, catching sight of Salem sprawled out on the pillow and Sabrina’s halo of hair against his chest. There was no blood, no dragging and he allowed himself to relax as he felt her stirring awake. “G’morning,” she yawned, her words slurred slightly with the tendrils of sleep still pulling her down. 

“Morning, Spellman,” he murmured, smiling down at the sight of her curled up against him. The fear still whirled around in the back of his mind, wanting to take over, but he pushed it down as she looked up at him. 

He stroked his hand through her hair and she caught his other one, linking their fingers before bringing it over to press a kiss to. They lay in silence for a few minutes, simply taking one another and the reality of the situation in. Eventually Sabrina shifted so that they were curled up facing one another under the covers, their heads not quite touching, but one hand still linked to help anchor them.

Nick could see that she was inwardly wrestling with something, the way she bit her bottom lip a clear sign for that, and he reached over, brushing his thumb against her mouth. “What is it?” 

Sabrina drew in a deep breath. “I’m Queen of Hell.”

“I know.” Nick moved his thumb to her cheek and up toward her forehead, trying to ease the worry he saw there. “He felt when you took the crown.”

She squeezed his hand tightly. “I don’t want to be part of a place that brought you so much pain.”

“Sabrina,” he started as she scooted closer.

“But it was breaking when I tried to give it to Lilith. And more things like Typhon were being released and I couldn’t let them get out.” It would have meant Hell on Earth, everyone’s life in danger. “I have to go back every week for a day.”

“I know.” Nick kissed her forehead, before pulling her into a hug. 

“I’d give it up if I could,” she murmured into his chest, holding tightly to him. “I don’t want you to associate me with that. With _him_.”

Nick tilted her chin up then, needing to see her eyes and for her to see him. “Sabrina, you were what kept me sane.” The Dark Lord had tried to manipulate that, to twist his love for her into something dark and demented, but it hadn’t worked. She was a beacon of light that he had held tightly onto and keeping her safe from the Devil was all that had mattered. 

She was still what kept him sane, an anchor to hold as he adjusted back to how much light and color Earth had. He kept expecting the next blow, the taunts and humiliation that had gone hand in hand with Lucifer’s internal war on his mind. Holding onto Sabrina helped him push past that never ending fear, allowed him to push it down to deal with later. 

“You’re not him, Sabrina.” He was adamant about that and she wanted to believe him, but couldn’t help but wonder how that might change with time. Especially if she truly did have to rule Hell and make deals with people. How could she do that and still retain her soul? 

But she didn’t want to think about herself, focusing her attention on him. Nick was the only important thing right then. “I love you.” She’d moved again so that she was face to face with him, their noses nearly touching. “I love you so much, Nick.”

Nick closed the distance at her words and kissed her, putting the depth of his feelings into it. She had told him that once before when he had astral projected and part of him had thought he’d imagined it, but she’d said it again, and he could hear the truth in it by how her voice had hitched slightly. Could feel it in how she reciprocated the kiss as he rolled her onto her back. “I love you,” he murmured against her ear before pressing hard and fast kisses down her neck. 

Her groan encouraged him to move lower, sucking on the curve of her neck as he stroked the skin of her stomach. Images of her throat slit, the bloodied knife in his hand reverberated in his mind and he lept back. He pressed his palms to his eyes as his breathing rapidly increased, trying to get the images to vanish. 

Sabrina slowly reached out and touched his shoulder, frowning at how he jumped slightly at the touch before leaning toward her. “I’ve got you,” she murmured as she pulled him close, letting him curl up with his head resting against her thigh. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Neither of them can.”

Nick wished with everything he had that her words were true, but he knew the phantom images of her dead at his hand wouldn’t leave anytime soon. Sabrina remembered the feeling of pulling that she’d sensed around him the last two times, and how he’d seemed to become stronger after. Closing her eyes she pushed her newfound aura toward him, letting it soak in through him. He held on tightly to her hand at that, but she could feel the tension in his body dissipating. 

“We won’t let them,” Sabrina continued as Nick stirred, the haunting look that had come quickly over him easing as he sat next to her on the bed. 

“You’re pretty special, Spellman,” Nick murmured as he touched her cheek, leaning forward to kiss her again. _She_ was his Morningstar. 

His words echoed back to Lupercalia and Sabrina knew that was when she’d really started to fall for him. He’d wanted to know both sides of her, witch and mortal, and that had meant more to her than anything. She’d begun to feel whole and for someone who had been living between two lives, struggling to define herself, that had been everything. And he still loved her, even with the truth of her heritage known to him. 

A quick rapping at the door had the two of them pausing and glancing over at it. “Sabrina, love,” Hilda called out, though she didn’t open the door. “Breakfast is ready. It’d be good for Mr. Scratch to get some sustenance in him again.”

Sabrina shook her head, amused. “We’ll be right down, Auntie.” She looked back at Nick, feeling mischievous and not quite ready to share him with the world just yet. “I think we can squeeze in another five minutes of making out before we really have to be there.”

His grin as they laid down together on the bed was everything in that moment. It would definitely be worth it to try stretching their luck to ten minutes.

* * *

Lilith looked down at the golem inside of the protective circle. She could feel the celestial energy coming from it, the intricate bindings that had been placed on the body in order to keep the Dark Lord locked away. She had little hope that bringing him back down there in this vessel would do anything for her claim to the throne in Hell’s or the demons’ eyes. But none of that mattered in that moment. 

She had been terrified when learning Sabrina had managed to retrieve Scratch from the dungeons, worried that the girl would accidentally free the Dark Lord and release him upon the earth. There would be no hiding from his wrath. She had betrayed him and Lilith had seen countless times over the millennia what happened to those who dared to go against the Devil. There would be no rest from the pain he would enact on her and she meant for that to never happen. 

Lilith broke the circle and stepped inside of it. So many years of abuse and humiliation bubbled over as she screamed at the body, laying blow after blow against the body with her hands and feet. It would never be enough to extract the vengeance she was due but she had another millennia or so within her to come up with a thousand different punishments to enact upon him now. 

She teleported the two of them through swirling hellfire and dropped him off in her chambers, easily securing the damascus steel to his wrists, ankles and neck. There were enough spells placed on her chambers that no one should be able to enter but her. She would not chance someone breaking him out again. 

“Pity you’ll be able to sleep through every depravity I’ll do to you,” she murmured as she bent over him. But it was better than risking his ability to break free from this prison. 

Lilith didn’t bother to look back at him as she exited her rooms and head back toward the throne room. It didn’t surprise her to find the Plague Kings waiting to speak to her. She grimaced, completely done with pleasantries with any of them.

Lilith ascended the steps to sit on the throne, ignoring the disdain in their gazes. How quickly their loyalty had turned. She truly should have known better than to ever expect it to last with any of them. Even Stolas had betrayed her in the end.

“There are deals to make,” Asmodeous started and she could already feel a headache beginning to form.

“Deals to collect,” Purson continued, the others nodding their agreement beside him.

Lilith leaned back against the throne, glaring down at the lot of them. “Something any of you are more than capable of doing.”

“The Queen should be doing them,” Beelzebub replied, and there were more murmurs of agreement.

“I’m curious,” Lilith leaned forward, eyeing each of them. “If the Dark Lord was here you wouldn’t be demanding anything of him.”

“We wouldn’t have to,” Purson pointed out. “It would already be done.”

Lilith rolled her eyes, staring up at the ceiling as they continued to prattle. 

“She’s a child.” 

“She must learn.” 

“We must teach her.”

She looked back at them, not particularly caring which of them had said what. “She will be taught what it means to rule Hell.”

“By you?” Purson laughed.

“A whore,” Beelzebub replied, spitting.

Their favorite word to throw around. “Was I not the one who helped lead Sabrina down her path for the Dark Lord?”

“And allowed her to trap him,” Asmodeus reminded.

“ _Yes_.” Lilith’s smile wasn’t at all pleasant. “She _defeated_ him. Think of what she’ll do when she learns of you doubting her. Sabrina chose _me_ as her regent. Not any of you. The tasks will be done.” She lifted her chin, glancing between each of them, her expression one of pure disdain. “Why don’t you worry about completing your own? I would _hate_ to tell our Queen that you’ve already failed her.”

“We are watching,” Beelzebub said before they disappeared into the shadows. 

Lilith rubbed her temple as she shifted back against the throne, mentally making a list of where to start Sabrina’s training later that week, and how best to manipulate the girl so she still retained the power she would need to survive Hell.

* * *

Breakfast at the Spellman mortuary was unlike anything Nick had ever experienced. Vaguely he remembered snippets of sitting similarly with his parents at one time, but he could never really grab hold of those memories. They were shadowed, overwritten by his time in the forest with Amalia before Father Blackwood’s men had located him. But watching the easy chatter that went back and forth between the four Spellmans, the twin Blackwood children easily being fed, while Prudence and he watched the volleying stirred a longing in him that he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

This was family.

This was a home.

He hadn’t had either in so long and glancing over at Prudence he saw the same echo of longing and uncomfortableness in her gaze. They had been allowed into something special and neither of them quite knew how to handle it. 

Sabrina nudged him, offering the bottle of syrup, her look questioning and he smiled as he accepted the jug, not wanting to worry her anymore than she already was. 

“You’re obviously welcome to stay here, Nicholas,” Zelda informed him without lowering the newspaper she was perusing. “Though your room at the Academy is also available to you.” 

Hilda made airplane noises before whirling a spoonful of baby food toward both of the twins. “There you go,” she murmured as they both sloppily took it in. That earned her a glare from Zelda over the top of the paper before she righted it again. 

“I won’t expect you back at classes just yet but do try to give yourself a timetable for when you’ll return.” Her attention turned toward Sabrina, giving her a similar glance. “Don’t give me that look, Sabrina.”

More noises came from Hilda, and Zelda folded the paper, laying it down beside her. “For Hell’s sake, Hilda. They do not need airplane noises in order to eat the food.”

“Sabrina always adored when I made airplane noises,” Hilda countered.

“Oh, did you?” Prudence teased, arching a brow in the witch’s direction.

“Apparently Ambrose was the best at them.” Sabrina smirked at her cousin who threw a pancake at her head. 

Nick caught it in the air and added it to his plate. He went to cut into it and dropped the fork as he took in the bugs crawling out from the blood that oozed out of the pancakes, pushing back from the table causing the chair he had been sitting in to fall backward. He headed out of the dining room and out of the front door, gasping for air as he stumbled down the steps. Hands pressed against his knees he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down.

It wasn’t real. He knew that on some vague level, but the images were so vivid, invading his senses and making him feel weak. He hated it, the simple task of eating breakfast ruined. 

“Nick?”

Sabrina.

He didn’t want her to see him like this. “Come on,” he heard Ambrose start from near him. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”

Nick looked up, watching Ambrose shake his head as he looked back at his cousin. “Yeah,” Nick agreed, glancing back at Sabrina as well, thankful he didn’t see the pity he had feared would be in her gaze. There was fury brimming in her instead and he knew it wasn’t directed at him. 

“I’ll see you when you guys get back.” She nodded toward them before heading back up the stairs and into the mortuary.

“Come on,” Ambrose urged him to follow, heading toward the woods and Nick followed.

* * *

Sabrina couldn’t help but stop at the window near the door and watch Ambrose and Nick until they disappeared into the woods. She kept looking at where they had been for a little longer, trying to compose herself and ease some of the fury that wanted to overtake her. Hellfire circled her hands and she felt hot, like she was burning from the inside out but it didn’t hurt. It almost felt good. Her rage was all consuming and she wanted to release it, to burn everything in her path. But she couldn't. Not there. Not in that moment. She would only be hurting the people she loved.

She _hated_ the Dark Lord, that his stain was still able to cause Nick so much pain. She didn’t know how to help, what to do to ease the turmoil that was running through him, and hoped that Ambrose could manage to do a little. Taking a deep breath she extinguished the fire, feeling her body become closer to normal, though the fury still simmered in the pit of her stomach.

“We’re in charge of the twins,” Prudence informed her as she entered the dining area, watching the older girl wipe baby food from Judas’ chin. “Your aunts had to head to the Academy and I’ve designated clean up for the boys when they return.”

That seemed fair. Sabrina picked up Leticia, wiping at the little girl’s hands and face, before heading out into the living area. There were some toys already laid out for the twins, a few of them ones that had been hers when she was their age, plus some newer ones. 

Prudence sat down beside her, laying Judas on the padded cloth next to his sister. “I need you to watch out for my sisters,” she told her, her attention remaining on Judas.”We’ll be leaving again soon, Ambrose and I. We can’t let Father Blackwood continue to live out there, plotting against all of us.” 

No. They really couldn’t leave him as a loose end. He needed to be dealt with and after everything he had done to Prudence and her cousin, Sabrina knew that the two of them more than deserved to be the one’s to kill that man. “I don’t know if Dorcas and Agatha will let me but I’ll do it.”

“I think you might have earned some more respect from them after that power jolt you gave us all last night.” Her sisters hadn’t been able to stop talking about it after they had secured the Dark Lord and Prudence couldn’t really blame them. It had been unlike anything she had experienced before, more power than even her Dark Baptism had showered on her. 

“I’m not really planning on doing that again.” Sabrina didn’t fully understand how it worked or why it did, or what it even truly meant. Maybe Lilith would have answers. 

“That’s a shame.” Prudence glanced over at her. “You were finally useful.” 

Sabrina rolled her eyes at that as she leaned back, letting the magic owl toy entertain the twins. “Where are you and Ambrose going to go?” 

“He’s left Romania if what our sources say is true.” And Prudence believed them. They hadn’t led them wrong yet. Her father wasn’t as popular among the other witches as he wanted to believe. Especially not with the rumors her and Ambrose had helped circulate about him killing the Antipope. “He’ll be looking for covens that were similar to ours. So we have a few places to try out.”

“Want me to let you know if I hear anything when I’m in Hell?” It was so weird to say, but there had to be some advantages to ruling it, didn’t there?

“Don’t think that just because you’re ruling there now that I’m going to be unnecessarily nice to you,” Prudence told her, eyes narrowed as she pointed a finger at Sabrina before looking back at her siblings. “But yes, do that.”

“Hell would freeze over before that happens, Prudence,” Sabrina laughed, catching the other witch’s brief smirk before a comfortable silence fell between them, the twins holding their attention.

“He’ll probably turn toward the bottle,” Prudence started after a moment, as she shook a rattle at Judas. Sabrina glanced over at her, not sure who she meant for a second before realization dawned on her. “Its what he always did when things got a little...chaotic. Drinks at Dorian’s. Sex to take his mind off anything and everything. Though I suppose he didn’t do that part after Amalia’s death and we were certain that he would.”

_Because of you_ remained unspoken between them. 

They hadn’t officially been a couple then, though her and Nick had been well on their way to becoming one. “It annoyed Dorcas greatly,” Prudence continued. “Though she got over it quick enough with Melvin.” Sabrina held back a laugh at the way the other witch twisted her lips in disgust. 

“I don’t know what to do to help him.” She hadn’t meant to admit that outloud, especially not to Prudence, but the girl had known Nick longer than her and they were friends. 

Prudence reached over, grasping her arm. “Don’t let him drown.” And then she turned back to her baby brother, conversation over.

Sabrina looked down at Leticia. She wouldn’t let him; she just needed to figure out how to do that.

* * *

Rain poured from the sky, slightly obstructed by the trees surrounding them as they trudged through the forest. Nick had no idea where they were going, but the weather matched his tumultuous mood, the sound of thunder in the distance echoing the chaos that rang inside of him. _You so easily lied to her before,_ the Dark Lord’s words echoed in his mind. _Think of how easily you’ll be able to do so again._

It was his biggest regret, the reason he’d fought so hard against the Devil in his mind for all of that time--weeks. It had felt longer than that to him. Months had passed in Hell, he was certain of it, but spring hadn’t even sprung yet on Earth. His body was healed, not a single scar of the torture and humiliation that Lilith had put him through. But the scars inside of him weren’t so easily healed. Nick wasn’t sure they ever truly would be. 

But he was back, Sabrina was safe, and he tried to hold onto that with all of his strength. It could be enough. It had to be enough. He would never lie to her again. He had promised himself that even as the Dark Lord’s laugh had sounded off all around him. 

Nick dug his nails into his palms as he followed Ambrose further along, the pain cutting through the mental turmoil of that damn echo. He wanted it gone, the tendrils of Satan that still had hold of him weren’t as easily destroyed as he’d hoped it would be. But it had only been a few hours. Maybe that would change with time. 

“I don’t know what day in and day out was like for you,” Ambrose started as they finally stopped in a clearing. “But I remember waking up after Blackwood manipulated me to kill the Antipope. And I remember that rage, that disgust at not being in control of my own body.”

Nick brushed back hair from his eyes. He didn’t have an answer for that, but he remembered the raw hand Ambrose had been dealt by their former High Priest. And the other warlock was correct in his assessment. A rage burned deep inside of him, one he didn’t want to expose to Sabrina. Was it his? Or was it just lingering bits of the monster that had been in him? Nick really didn’t like either being the answer. 

_He wasn’t your equal_. That was what the Dark Lord had told Sabrina and the words chipped away at Nick, the truth of them slicing into him in ways Lilith’s demons with their knives had never been able to master. 

But three simple words from her helped soothe that ache. _I love you_. Nick had seen the truth in them as she held him, in her touch and the desperation to get him back. She loved him and maybe that did make him worthy. 

“So,” Ambrose offered up a flask and nodded for him to take a drink as he orchestrated a spell.

Nick did as indicated, enjoying the way the scotch burned down his throat, even more pleased with the life size puppet of twigs that Ambrose had created. It was the spitting image of the Dark Lord. “Not the real thing, but it’ll do for now,” Ambrose continued as Nick offered the flask back. “I suggest no magic at first. Let your fists do the talking.”

No more words needed to be said as Nick stepped forward, taking out every inch of rage that he possibly could on the puppet. Ambrose kept working to repair it, giving Nick the outlet he needed to release the pain and horror that he had experienced without reprieve. The storm raged around them, reflecting every emotion that Nick poured into his punches. 

It would do for now.

* * *

Sabrina had the papers of her father’s manifesto spread out on the floor of her room. She was grateful that she’d made copies of them before giving the originals to the Antipope. They had never found that document after his murder and she had a feeling Father Blackwood had destroyed it. The copies had been made with magic though, giving them the exact same appearance as the ones he had written with his own hands. Unlike the book Nick had snuck out from the Academy’s library though these pages didn’t hold the same spark she had gotten when flipping through those pages. The originals had, but the smudged fingerprints in the ink weren’t quite right, holding no connection like she still managed to get from the book at her side.

Her bedroom door opened and Sabrina looked up, breath catching at the sight of Nick toweling off his hair. He was in different clothes, ones she was pretty sure belonged to Ambrose, and his hands were wrapped with bandages, a reddish stain spreading out on one. 

“Do you want me to heal you?” She thought she could like she had Ambrose all of those weeks back but Nick was shaking his head as he sat down beside her, taking in all that she was doing. Sabrina watched him, noting that the tension that had been in his shoulders at breakfast seemed to have been gone. Whatever Ambrose had been able to do seemed to have helped a little. 

“Your father’s work.” He picked up a paper, reading the words and taking in the different diagrams and drawings.

“Do you remember what you reminded me of when you astral projected to the bathroom?” Sabrina asked, looking down at the page with her father’s tenants for the direction he’d wanted the Church of Night to turn toward.

“You’re the Morningstar your father was talking about,” Nick placed the paper back down, turning so that he could really look at her. He felt that pull that was becoming familiar around her occur again and reached over, lacing their fingers together.

“Maybe. Possibly.” It was a lot to take in though and she couldn’t help but have her doubts about everything.

“Well, it's not the Dark Lord,” Nick pointed out, scowling as he said the Devil’s title, and Sabrina squeezed his hand. “He would never go for mortals and witches working together. I doubt he’d be okay with witches being seen as equal either.”

“It definitely doesn’t jive with how he wants us all to be subservient to him,” Sabrina muttered, remembering how he’d still wanted her to call him the Dark Lord in front of others at the failed coronation.

“No.” Nick’s voice was barely audible and Sabrina cursed herself.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…” She hadn’t thought about how that might have sounded to him and how it might remind him of all he’d endured. 

Nick just squeezed her hand and tilted her chin with his other hand so that she was looking at him. “Did it help? Going with Ambrose?” He nodded and she smiled softly at that, thankful that it did. “I don’t know how I can help but I will. I’ll listen if you want to…”

“I know,” he assured her, tucking her hair behind her ears, but he wasn’t ready to talk about any of it yet. Having her there helped. Not expecting him to suddenly be alright did as well. “So what are you looking for?”

“I think my father knew what the Dark Lord’s plans were. That he knew that my mother wasn’t just blessed but that…” She trailed off, unable to say it outloud right then. 

“That you’d be of his blood and not Edward’s,” Nick replied with a sigh and Sabrina reluctantly nodded. 

“I think he planned on that being the case.” Sabrina shuffled through the papers before pulling one about the hierarchies of Hell to show.

“But why?” Nick glanced down at the paper, steeling himself as he read the words in case it brought about any sort of panic. Having Sabrina there holding his hand helped.

“Because someone with celestial blood has to rule Hell,” Sabrina said, pointing to where the word celestial was circled. “And if you want to bring in a new order, a new era, then you have to change the way things are. You can’t do that without having the new ruler as someone who believes in actual free will. Who sees mortals and witches as equal and wants them to be able to live in some kind of harmony.”

“No, you cannot.”

They both looked up at the new voice.

“Dad?”

The spirit of Edward Spellman standing in her bedroom was not at all how Sabrina had thought the evening would go. She had spoken to him once before when he had told her about his manifesto but this seemed different. Sabrina couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly, but something about him felt _real_. 

“Hello, sweetheart.” Edward started as her and Nick both stood up. “I think it’s time we finally have a talk about everything, don’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to keep exploring Nick's ptsd throughout this story so just a head's up with that. I think its important to show how he's working through that. 
> 
> Next chapter will be conversations with Edward, some Roz, more Nabrina, and the beginning of some consequences. Thanks so much for reading everyone.


	7. Chapter 7

_“During the day, memories could be held at bay,  
but at night,  
dreams became the devil's own accomplices.”  
_

Sabrina and Nick stared at the apparition, neither of them quite believing what they were seeing. They had seen him while together once before, back at Dorian’s, but the awe that they had both displayed at that meeting was gone, replaced by caution. There was so much they didn’t know about ghosts, even with their experiences with them and considering everything else that had happened, trust wasn’t as easily given as it once had been.

Especially not when ghosts suddenly appeared after being discussed.

“How are you here?” Sabrina asked, trying to keep her voice steady even as her hands trembled.

Nick stepped in front of her, his entire stance tense as he looked at Edward Spellman. Before everything he would have been standing there in awe. This was the man he had respected and craved learning more about for how many years now? But all he could think was that this was a trick somehow, that this apparition was there to hurt Sabrina in some way. 

“How do we know it's you?” He nearly jumped as Sabrina touched his back, but kept his focus on the ghost, waiting for an answer.

“You’re right to be paranoid, especially with all you both have experienced.” Edward took the hat from his head, holding it in the curve of his arm. “Take it, Sabrina. You’ll know who I am.”

Nick clenched his fists at that, knowing he couldn’t make the decision for her. He had promised he would stand by her side, that he would help hold her up and not pull her back down, and he meant to keep that promise. Even as he readied to banish the ghost if needed. She kept a grip on Nick’s forearm to help anchor her as she reached forward and grasped her father’s hand.

It didn’t make sense. She shouldn’t have been able to do so. Ghosts were supposed to be intangible. “Your new status makes you rather unique in what you can do,” Edward explained. 

She didn’t have time to cringe at that as images of his past invaded her senses, showing a long life lived with his sisters, snapshots of others, her mother, and finally holding a baby girl-- _her_. She sensed the goodness, the love he held for each person he showed her, and couldn’t help but let the tears fall. “Dad,” she breathed out, leaning against Nick for strength as every longing she’d had for meeting this man rushed back into her. 

She had so many questions.

Nick eased up a bit, shifting to wrap an arm around her waist. “It’s him,” Sabrina murmured as she let go of Edward. 

“It always amazes me how much you look like your mother,” Edward started as Nick and Sabrina leaned against her bedframe. “You were correct though. I did know that it was the Dark Lord whose blood runs through your veins and not mine. It was part of the culmination of over five hundred years of planning.”

Sabrina didn’t know how to feel as he confirmed her suspicions, stomach sinking at the knowledge. She reached out for Nick, thankful that he took her hand. Part of her hated that she was leaning on him for any kind of emotional strength in that moment. He had enough of his own trauma to deal with, she didn’t want to add her own on top of it. But she was grateful that he brushed his thumb along the back of her hand as they listened to her father continue.

“The plan had been for Diana and I to raise you though, but the Dark Lord put a stop to that.”

“The Dark Lord caused the accident?” She had thought it was Father Blackwood. Everything had pointed to that even if they hadn’t been able to prove it.

“He orchestrated it. The Dark Lord has always been good at whispering in one’s ears and guiding them down the path he wants them to play.” Nick swallowed at that, clenching his hand that wasn’t holding Sabrina’s into a fist, letting his nails dig into his skin. 

“We had played our parts in his plan and I think he believed that our demise would give you less of a grip on your mortal side.” Edward continued as he looked around the room, taking in the pieces of her childhood still strewn about. “He didn’t realize how loyal our family is to one another, that your aunts would honor your mother’s side as best they could before your Dark Baptism.”

“But why did you sign my name in the Book of the Beast? Why did mom baptize me?” Because none of it made sense to her. Had they been fighting against one another? Why had only her Aunt Hilda known about the baptism?

“Because you needed your feet in both worlds--the witch and the mortal from the onset,” Edward explained and Nick frowned at that. So much thought had been put into place to ensure Sabrina was of both tribes--the mortal and the witch--a carefully crafted puzzle that they were only just putting the pieces together on. “I needed to ensure that you belonged to both, that you would love both, even if your mother and I were no longer around.”

“Did you know he was going to kill you?” Why hadn’t they protected themselves better? Not that she knew how exactly they could have done so against the Dark Lord, not if he wanted them dead.

Edward nodded. “We suspected.” 

“You didn’t tell the Aunties.” She wondered if her mother had known that plane trip would be their last when she had boarded. 

Edward sighed, his expression pained. “I couldn’t risk them turning against the Dark Lord at that point. I needed them to care for you, to love you just as fiercely as I knew they would. That love has been a protection for you throughout the years, Sabrina. It will continue to be.”

“Why did he pick you and mom?” Surely they weren’t the only warlock and mortal couple throughout the centuries. Sabrina knew others had been murmured about every so often, though none of those murmurings had been that nice.

“I put myself on the trajectory for that when I was young.” Sabrina blinked at that, remembering how he’d mentioned five hundred years earlier. Her Aunt Zelda was over five hundred and eighty and she knew her dad had been older than her. “I became the best warlock of generations. I learned and I rose through the ranks, I ensured I was a warlock that he took interest in even as I continued to do my own work against him. The same spell used on Batibat was used to trap inside yourself, was it not, Nicholas?”

It was why Nicholas had used it. The acheron hadn’t worked but he’d known that binding would work with his body as the prison. “Yes.”

Sabrina squeezed his hand. She could almost hear how his heart had begun beating faster in his chest at the question. “But _why_? What made you realize his path wasn’t the way?” Because she couldn’t understand what could have possibly made her father set out on this path centuries ago. 

Edward smiled, moving about the room and stopping at the picture Sabrina had of him and Diana. “The Spellman family has always been a bit different. What is it that witches say about love, Nicholas?” He looked back at them before turning his attention back to the photograph. “Witches know passion and lust, but love, true love, is not for them. Our devotion is to the Dark Lord.” 

Sabrina and Nick looked at one another, both remembering the conversation they had with one another after she’d broken up with Harvey. “But you know that’s not quite true,” Edward continued as he turned back toward them. “You’ve felt it with my daughter.”

His attention focused on Sabrina. “And you’ve experienced it your whole life with your aunts and cousin. The Spellman family has always been devoted to one another over anything else. Even the Dark Lord.” 

Sabrina knew that was true. She might have doubted it once, but her aunts defied him with every breath they took when the Dark Lord had come to claim her as his queen. Nothing had mattered but keeping her safe. They were fiercely loyal to one another. Always had been, always would be. She couldn’t have asked for a better family.

“Zelda was far better than I at nearly every subject of witchcraft, every spell, every deed. And she was treated as lesser, deemed not as worthy.” Edward’s expression darkened as he remembered every instance of injustice. “I despised it. Even more so when Hilda came and she was treated worse than Zelda had ever been. They were revered in our household and I never understood why that wasn’t seen outside of it. The Spellman women have always been strong, independent witches with incredible power. And yet it is more often than not the women who are sacrificed so that the coven may continue on. Look at the Greendale Thirteen. Not a single warlock among them.” 

Their deaths had been justified so that the rest of the coven would survive. A worthy sacrifice. “I questioned everything internally. I looked for answers.” 

He moved around the room, taking in bits and pieces of the life he had not gotten to see her live. “And I found the prophecy in the Codex Prognostica. The one of the shadow girl.” Sabrina shuddered at the reminder of it, gripping Nick’s hand tightly as her father continued. “And then I learned the other prophecy. The one about the era of the Morningstar.”

Nick binked, brow furrowed in confusion. “I looked all through that text. What prophecy?” He definitely hadn’t found anything like that. He would have shared that with Sabrina. Nick glanced over at her, needing her to know that he wouldn’t have hidden something like that from her. 

“You won’t find it,” Edward replied, only adding to the confusion. “It was erased from history four hundred years ago.”

“Did the Dark Lord do that?” Sabrina asked. It would make sense. Why would he ever want anyone to know about a time that happened after his defeat?

“The Dark Lord never knew of it.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to reply to that but quickly closed it before shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”

Edward set his hat down on the dresser before moving to sit on the chair for her vanity. “What do you know of your cousin’s family?”

Nick and her settled down on the settee in front of her bed, a little squished, but not caring about their comfort. “Just that they were killed by witch hunters when Ambrose was young. Aunt Hilda raised him.” Her cousin didn’t like talking about it. None of them did. Just as they didn’t like talking about her own parents’ deaths.

“His grandmother was my aunt. Priscilla Spellman. She helped raise my sisters and I back in England, before we relocated here.” Sabrina remembered the name from the family tree and Zelda using it in the exorcism. “Priscilla was cursed with the gift of prophecies. I say curse because no one wants to know the future, to have prior knowledge to how and when everyone they know will die. It made her an outcast among even our kind. No one likes knowing that someone else knows their fate.” 

Sabrina couldn’t help but think of Roz and her cunning, the stress that seeing the visions put on her friend and the way she felt like she was living a lie by hiding it from her parents. “She wrote down thousands of them, most dealing with offshoots of our family. But I was with her when she uttered her last one. The one that continued the Shadow Girl and brought about a better era for witch and mortalkind.” Edward focused his attention on Sabrina. “The one about you.”

Four words should not have shattered her world as easily as they did, but it was like another blow--similar to the one she’d had when Harvey and Theo had brought them to see the picture in the cave. 

“Witchkind and mortalkind never should have been turned against one another as they have been through the centuries,” Edward continued and Sabrina looked up. 

She felt Nick’s hand on her shoulder, grateful for the way he kneaded it, trying to offer her support. “I don’t understand how I’m supposed to fix that.” 

Edward smiled and Sabrina felt her chest tighten at the sight. There was so much warmth in it as he looked over at her. The pride she had seen in her Aunt Zelda’s after her coronation echoed in his gaze. What would her life have been like if she’d grown up with that look? If she’d had him and her mother around to guide him through the world. She loved her aunts and cousin with all of her heart, she was who she was because of them, but she couldn’t help but imagine all of the what if’s when it came to her parents.

“You started to do so before you had known of the first prophecy,” Edward reminded her. “You began sharing the message with the coven. Your friends know who and what you are and they stick to your side. Nothing will happen overnight. It will take many centuries to become what it could be. But you rule Hell. You have a great many say in things.”

And just like that all of her happiness at his pride in her evaporated. “I don’t want it.”

“We rarely want the burdens we must bear.” Such simple words that held so much weight.

Sabrina stood, fist clenched as the pit that had settled in her stomach earlier grew. Nick rose beside her, hand still tightly holding her own. “If this was all just your plan...did you even love mom?”

Or was that just another of the lies she had grown up believing.

Edward rose as well. “With all of my heart.”

“Did you…” Sabrina couldn’t finish her sentence.

“We wanted you with every part of our beings, Sabrina,” he assured her, and tears stained her cheeks as he continued. “We loved you with everything we had.” 

She took a shaky breath. “You knew you were going to die.”

Edward reached over, wiping at her tears. “And we knew you would live.”

It was still surreal to feel his touch. She’d been able to grab hold of Tommy in Limbo but that had been different. What else about her had changed once Hell had known of her existence? 

“Retrieve my books from the library, Sabrina. They were always meant for you. You’ll need them for what’s to come,” Edward continued as he dropped his hand. “I believe you know where they are in there, Nicholas?”

“Yes, sir.” The concern about Edward being a fake had passed, amazement at standing in front of the warlock he’d idolized for years beginning to creep in. 

“What do you mean? What’s coming?” Sabrina pressed. 

Edward retrieved his hat. “Ask your aunts where else you might find pieces of my past.”

“Daddy.” There was so much she needed to ask him, but the edges around him were dimming.

“I’m sorry.” He was fading, his voice distorting. “I’m so proud of you.”

And then he was gone. 

The giddiness that had slowly been encircling Nick disappeared as he looked at Sabrina. She looked ready to break, lower lip trembling as tears filled her eyes. “Hey,” he murmured, pulling her in for a tight hug. 

She clung to him, pressing her face into his neck as she allowed herself to let out a sob. “Was I just born to be a pawn? No actual choice, my fate just laid out in front of me.” She pulled back, raking her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t...you’ve got enough to…”

He caught her hands and brought her back to him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “We’re together, right, Spellman?” Nick asked, waiting for her to nod. He was still learning about mortal ways of love, but one thing he had figured out was that they had one another’s back. He’d seen it with how her friends were with her, how her family was as well. “We’ll help each other through this. All of it.” 

Nick cradled her face in his hands as their foreheads touched, silence falling between them as they took comfort from one another’s presence. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Sabrina murmured, moving to hug him tightly. The way he supported her meant everything, calming the fear and confusion that wanted to take hold.

“We’ll figure this out,” Nick promised, brushing back her hair as they stood in the middle of her room, Edward Spellman’s papers still strewn around it. 

“Tomorrow.” There had been enough revelations for the day. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed with him and ignore everything else for a few hours. They had earned that, hadn’t they?

* * *

The problem with the cunning was that Rosalind Walker never knew when it might start or what could trigger it. She had never been able to really get answers from her grandmother either and Roz hadn’t attempted talking to anyone else in the family yet about it. She wasn’t sure who might know anything when it was obvious her father and mother had no clue about what her grandmother had been able to do, what _she_ could do. 

Her dreams had become more fluid as a result of the cunning, something she had only begun to realize after the Devil’s failed attempt at taking over the world. She didn’t always stick to hers, drifting into her friends’ dreams every so often, her parents, and occasionally a stranger or two. And every so often she traveled into that state between dreaming and being awake, when the veil between the worlds was charged, allowing her to see things that she wasn’t sure had already happened, were currently occurring, or yet to be. 

She knew she was in that now with the haziness of the images all around her, the colors dulled and reminding her of looking through a window on a rainy day. She knew what she was seeing but it was altered just enough to confuse her senses. 

Lucifer was sitting at a table, a chess set laid out in front of him. Except it wasn’t like any she had seen, the figurines on top of it intricately carved and Roz squinted, trying to get a better look at them. She immediately wished she hadn’t as soon as she recognized all of them.

There was one of her, Theo and Harvey. Another of each of the Spellmans and several other people, one of which looked like Prudence. Roz wasn’t sure about the others standing beside the girl, but she had a feeling they were witches from Sabrina’s coven. And then there was a cat. It had to be Salem.

She watched the Dark Lord pick up Sabrina’s figurine, twirling it in his hand as he moved the other Spellmans toward the rest of the witches before setting down a sand timer in front of them. Unlike the ones she’d seen used before the sand simply disappeared as it fell through the hole into the other compartment, and the shine of the figurines started to fade. 

A bug slid across the board before devouring Theo’s figurine and scooting back across, disappearing into the shadows. Harvey’s sunk through the table, mud bubbling up where it had been. Her own was blown off the board, shattering into pieces as it hit the floor. Salem’s simply shriveled up. 

Lucifer placed Sabrina’s figurine back onto the table, a crown appearing on its head. The weight of it caused the figure to fall over, crashing onto the table. None of it made sense to Roz and she looked at everything again, trying to gather clues from what she was seeing. 

After a moment she realized that Lucifer was no longer sitting at the table. 

Roz froze, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling as she sensed his presence behind her. “The Walker women have always been such trouble,” he started, gripping her shoulders tightly. “ _Forget_. Until I need you to remember.” 

She woke moments later in her bed, sitting up and grabbing at her covers to try and steady herself. She shifted toward her nightstand, flicking on the light. She had seen something; it was important. Roz tried to catch the images, to pull on them as they quickly flitted out of her reach. She couldn’t catch them though, left with nothing but a feeling of terrible emptiness and bruises in the shape of fingers on her shoulders.

* * *

Sabrina snuggled closer into Nick, seeking out the extra warmth that his body provided. Waking up with him was comforting in ways she hadn’t ever really imagined it would be. She was going to miss doing so when she had to stay in Hell for the night. But Sabrina pushed that thought away, not wanting to cloud the moment as they both stirred awake. 

“I could get used to this,” Nick murmured, his breath husky from sleep and Sabrina rested her chin against his chest as she looked up at him.

“Hmm?” She grinned as he brushed his fingers against her cheek. 

The way he looked at her took her breath away. There was so much longing in his gaze and love like she hadn’t ever known before. Desperate and calm at the same time. “Waking up with you.”

She moved up so that they were face to face and kissed his nose. “You’re kind of stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” Nick told her, looking entirely too serious.

“What would you call it?” She brushed curls from his brow.

He caught her hand and brought it to his mouth. _Home._ “Being where I belong.” He kissed her, working to express how much he cherished having her in his life. It had been so long since he’d felt like this and if he was honest with himself, what he remembered was such a haze because of the trauma surrounding his parents’ death, that he wasn’t sure it counted any longer. 

She reciprocated, losing herself in the feelings he could stir inside of her body, moving so that she was on top of him. His hands ran up and down her back, her own taking root in his hair as they desperately kissed one another. They both knew there was only so long they had before one of her aunts, Ambrose or Prudence interrupted them. But it was enough for the moment to lose themselves in each other. 

Minutes passed and they heard the rest of the house start to wake. Sabrina reluctantly rolled off of Nick, laying beside him on the bed instead, their fingers linked as they stared up at the ceiling. “So what’s the game plan?” Nick asked, shifting so that he was leaning on his side, propping his head up as he looked down at her. 

“I think we hit up the library first.” She paused, carefully looking him over. “Are you okay with going to the Academy?” She didn’t want to push him to do anything he wasn’t ready for yet. Nick nodded and she continued. “Get the books we can from there and pour over them to see what we might glimpse from them. Then we’ll see what my Aunties can tell us about my dad’s hiding places. We probably want to focus on Aunt Hilda because Aunt Zee will get suspicious, quickly.”

Nick furrowed his brow. “You don’t want to tell them?”

Sabrina sighed and then pressed her lips together. “Not until we have something more concrete than the words of a ghost.” Because she trusted everything her father had told her but there were still so many unanswered questions and she wanted to give her Aunties something a little more concrete before sharing the next chaos to add to their lives. 

“I’ll follow your lead with that, but,” Nick started and she turned her attention back to him. “We don’t keep things from one another, okay?” 

Sabrina could agree to that. “No secrets.” 

“Which means no running off to do your own thing either, Sabrina.” Not like she had done with the mandrake. 

“I promise.” And this time she didn’t cross her fingers. Doing that hadn’t ended well for any of them and she wouldn’t go down another path that could endanger Nick or her family. He’d sacrificed enough for her already. She wouldn’t be the reason he ever had to do so again.

He leaned in to kiss her as her bedroom door opened, Ambrose and Prudence leaning in the doorway. Sabrina threw one of her pillows at the two, glowering as her cousin easily batted it away. Salem took the opened door as an opportunity to head out into the rest of the house, leaving the four to their conversation. “We could have been indisposed!” 

Prudence shrugged. “It’s not as though Ambrose and I haven’t seen Nicky naked before.” It was Nick’s turn to throw a pillow.

“We’re leaving,” Ambrose said, trying to redirect the conversation before Sabrina threw the lamp their way. Sabrina got off the bed at that, not wanting to let him go without a hug. 

“Don’t forget to keep an eye out for my sisters,” Prudence reminded her, before she looked over at Nick. And he nodded, letting her know he’d check in on Dorcas and Agatha as well.

“I’ll be back next Sunday no matter what for the day,” Ambrose promised, as he let go of Sabrina. “Auntie Zee does not get to accompany you to Hell two weeks in a row.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Think of all the infernal texts.” He had started a list of all the ones he’d wanted to start reading. “I need to see if I can find Crowley down there. Can you look up where he is?”

Sabrina shrugged. “I guess? I have no idea, but I can ask Lilith.” She hadn’t even thought about locating people they might know down there. Could she find her father again? 

Ambrose looked over at Nick. “I left our friend in the woods for whenever you need another go at it. Try not to let her lead you into anything too insane.”

“Ha ha ha.” Sabrina twisted her lips as she narrowed her eyes.

“Who says I’m joking?” Ambrose shook his finger at her. “You’re a trouble magnet.”

“Fate’s funny like that,” she muttered as Nick moved to stand behind her. 

“I have her back,” he assured Ambrose, reaching again for Sabrina’s hand.

Prudence shuddered, shaking her head at their linked hands. “Let’s leave before they make me nauseous.” Ambrose laughed, the two of them turning to leave.

“Wait, Ambrose?” 

“Yeah, cuz?” He paused in the doorway, looking back at her.

Now was as good a time as any. “What do you know about Priscila Spellman?” 

Ambrose paused, taking a second to place the name. “My grandmother, your great, great aunt. I think that’s how it works. Not much. I think your father was with her when she died, but never met her. Why?” 

Sabrina shrugged. “Just curious.”

He let out a long suffering sigh, the kind he always reserved for her antics, but Sabrina was already motioning for him to go. _Satan help us_. 

“You don’t want to keep Prudence waiting,” she reminded, nodding toward the staircase the other witch had already started down. 

Ambrose clasped his hands together in front of himself before taking a deep breath. “Try to last one week--just _one_ \--cousin, without turning the world on its head.”

She couldn’t promise that. “I love you too, Ambrose.” 

He shook his head and pulled her into another tight hug. “Good luck,” he told Nick as he pulled away. “You’re going to need it with this one.”

“Ambrose, stop making Prudence wait for you,” Zelda called from below, leaning against the banister. “Sabrina and Nicholas, it is time for breakfast.” She turned away, shaking her head as Salem ran by her, nearly tripping her. “I swear, you’d think all order has just left this household.”

* * *

“It’s Rosalind,” Hilda told Sabrina as she made her way back into the dining area. 

Sabrina glanced over at Nick, who nodded before digging back into his eggs. She headed out into the foyer, quickly starting, “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t make it to school yesterday. Things have been---what’s wrong?” She stopped talking, concern for her friend spiking at how confused Roz looked in that moment. 

It reminded Sabrina of when the cunning had started for her friend, that uncertainty over what was happening and how to try to control it overwhelmed her. “I don’t.” Roz wrung her hands together, looking down at the floor and then back again as she tried to get the words right. “I dreamed something. I think it was important but I can’t remember it.” She paused, knowing that probably didn’t make sense. Most people didn’t remember their dreams but she had ever since the cunning had started working in her “It’s like…”

Sabrina nodded toward the living area, getting Roz to follow her inside and sit down on the couch together. “It's like someone took it away. Like I now have this blank spot there where these images should be,” Roz explained.

“I’m going to the Academy with Nick today. We can look up sleep demons,” Sabrina replied, reaching over to squeeze her friend’s hand. “Batibat is still locked away so it can’t be her, but maybe we can find out what’s causing this.”

“I feel…” Roz trailed off again. She felt violated, like someone had seen inside of her and torn out a piece, leaving her vulnerable. It reminded her of Hell a bit, that sinking feeling of never feeling warm again enveloping her from the inside out. “Cold.”

Sabrina squeezed her hand again. “We’ll figure it out, okay?” Because if a demon was messing with her friends, they were in for a very rude awakening.

Roz nodded before taking a deep breath. “How’s he doing?”

Sabrina glanced toward where Nick and the others were sitting, their view blocked by the wall. “As well he can after being tortured in Hell.” 

It was Roz’s turn to give her a reassuring squeeze. “He’s strong though.”

“He is,” Sabrina agreed. She just wished he didn’t have to be, but that was unrealistic. 

Roz’s phone rang and the two of them looked at one another before she fished it out of her bag. “Harvey? Harvey, slow down. What do you mean?”

Sabrina couldn’t make out any of the words that he was telling Roz but from her expression it wasn’t anything good. “The storm caused a landslide and the mines are…”

The phone fell from Roz’ hand as she suddenly tensed up and collapsed against the couch.

“Roz?” Sabrina moved to catch her, not wanting her friend to hit the coffee table as she fell, her body spasming. Roz’s eyes had rolled to the back of her head, a white foamy substance was coming from her mouth as she continued to shake. 

“Aunties!” Sabrina screamed, clutching desperately to Roz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a few more answers that basically led to more questions from Edward and Lucifer has already begun messing with everyone's lives. 
> 
> Next chapter is Spellmans and Roz, more Nabrina, Hilda and Zelda, plus some more Nabrina. Every chapter just needs a lot of Nabrina.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

_“Your nightmares follow you like a shadow, forever. ”  
_

Sabrina held tightly to Roz, trying to will her better, for the shaking to stop happening as the others rushed into the room. Nothing was happening though, her friend’s body still trembled hard against her, the foam still seeped out of her mouth. “I can’t heal her. Why can’t I heal her?” Sabrina looked up at them, gasping out the words as Zelda tried to take Rosalind from her.

“Let go,” Zelda urged, gently at first but Sabrina shook her head, trying to utilize her ability like she had done for Ambrose weeks back, but still nothing happened. “Nicholas, help keep Sabrina back.” She looked back at her sister. “Hilda, get the salts.”

Nick pulled Sabrina toward him, his touch getting her to release her hold on her friend. She clung tightly to his arm around her waist, barely hearing the words he murmured into her hair as she watched her aunts work to settle Roz. This couldn’t be happening. What good were any of her abilities if she couldn’t help those she loved the most? He wouldn’t let go of her though, brushing his free hand through her hair as he kept murmuring to her, trying to ease the tension from her. 

The seizures stopped but Roz didn’t open her eyes. Zelda wiped at her mouth, leaning forward to make sure the girl was breathing. “It's temporary, love,” Hilda reassured, patting Sabrina’s arm as she rose. “She’ll wake up again in a few minutes. Her body is just healing.”

“I should be able to heal her,” Sabrina protested, rising as her aunts moved Roz back to the couch. Nick followed her up, letting go of her but remaining close.

“This isn’t an injury of the body, Sabrina,” Zelda informed her and that caught her attention. “It’s one of her mind. What were the two of you discussing?”

“She said she thought something had happened last night. That something had taken away her dream. An important dream. She’s pretty sure it was a cunning one, I think.” Sabrina sat down by Roz on the couch and touched her friend’s cheek. She felt warm, not cold like her friend had been saying. “And then Harvey called. I don’t know exactly what they were talking about but she collapsed while that was happening-- _oh god_ \--”

Sabrina scanned the floor, looking frantically for Roz’s phone. Nick spotted it first and handed it over to her. “Harvey?” Sabrina tried but there was no answer. He’d hung up and was probably on his way over. 

Zelda and Hilda were looking at one another, the worry clearly etched in their expressions as they looked back at Rosalind. “The cunning do not have dreams like we do,” Zelda started as she crossed her arms. “Either they’re moving through others’ dreams or if they’re behind the veil they can be seeing what’s actually happening and what’s to come.”

“And that’s not good,” Hilda continued, setting the bottle of salts down on the coffee table. “If she saw things to come then this will happen every time what was taken away begins to occur.”

“Only one of the top tiers of Hell could have done this,” Zelda pointed out and Sabrina clenched her fists. Her veins felt like they were on fire as her anger began to boil over. Hellfire sparked from her fingers and she clamped down the urge to light something on fire. 

“Which ones?” she demanded and Zelda sighed.

“Sabrina.” She hated the placating tone in her aunt’s voice. 

“I’ll march right down there and make them fix this.” She could do it. She was queen. They had to listen to her. Didn’t they?

Zelda pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes, muttering something about heaven. “You can’t do that, love,” Hilda told her and Sabrina looked at her other aunt, wrinkling her nose.

“Why the Heaven not? I’m their queen.” Didn’t that mean anything? She looked over at Nick who was shaking his head, clearly agreeing with her aunts. “They need to know they cannot mess with my family and friends.” They had done that enough with Nick. She wasn’t letting it happen again.

“You cannot ruin the delicate balance of Hell when we do not know which demon it is,” Zelda started again, trying to instill the seriousness of the situation in her niece. They should have discussed witch and Hell politics with her more often and she blamed herself for that. They had worked to keep her sheltered from so much before her sixteenth birthday that it was coming back to bite them at times.

“How many sleep demons can there even be?” Sabrina asked. They just needed to narrow the list then.

“At least a hundred,” Nick told her and Sabrina frowned. Definitely more than she had thought there would be. “I doubt it's one of the lesser ones so that narrows it a bit. But you’ll need to know the exact one to get this fixed because it will continue to happen.”

“I could just kill off demons until they tell me which one it is,” Sabrina muttered as she dropped down beside Roz again.

“And start a demonic uprising?” Zelda asked, glaring at her and Sabrina sighed. “No. I know impulsivity is your go to, but you cannot afford that now.”

“Your aunt’s right,” Nick told her.

“Thank you, Nicholas.”

“You don’t know who or why. This could be targeted. Or it could just be some bad luck that has to do with Roz’ cunning nature. Do you know anything about the others who’ve had it in her family?” he continued, sitting on the coffee table across from her and ignoring Hilda’s ‘not the coffee table’ murmur.

Sabrina shook her head. “No. She’s still trying to learn more about it.”

“This could be part of that then,” he reached over and took hold of her hand. “Certain demons latch onto families that have particular gifts. Feeding from them lasts longer.”

“Such as Batibat did to your father,” Zelda pointed out and Sabrina leaned forward, letting her shoulders slump. “We’ll figure this out, Sabrina, but you need to start looking at the bigger picture. You’re not simply a young witch learning her way through the world anymore.”

But that’s what she _wanted_ to be. Would that be so bad? To just be a normal half-mortal half-witch who had her aunts and a cousin who loved her, went to witch and mortal school, dated the handsome warlock and drank milkshakes with her mortal friends, watching horror movies together on weekends. 

Except that wouldn’t help Rosalind out. It wouldn’t help ease Nick’s pain or keep Hell from spreading out into the world. 

There was a frantic banging on the front door as Rosalind stirred. Hilda went to answer it while Sabrina helped Roz move to sit back up. Harvey entered the room, running straight over to her and Sabrina pulled back, shifting to sit by Nick, letting the two reunite before filling them in on everything.

“The mines are gone,” Harvey told them as he hugged Roz tightly. “The rain caused a mudslide that covered the entrance. Dad doesn’t know when or if they’ll be able to blast their way into it.” 

“No one was in it?” Hilda asked, all of them remembering the last time an incident had happened in the mines. Tommy and several others had not made it out alive.

“No,” Harvey raked a hand through his hair, “But money is going to be tight real quick if they can’t get it opened.” Not just for him but for so many families in the town. The mines were a big employer for it. 

Silence filled the room for a long moment, growing uneasy before Zelda stood up. “No point in crying over spilled milk.” She turned her attention to Roz. “Hilda is going to make you some tea, Rosalind. To help you with your strength and I’ll get you an amulet to wear to hopefully lessen the demon’s hold on you.” 

The aunts left the teens alone who sat not quite looking at one another. “You can’t do anything about the demon, ‘Brina?” Harvey asked, finally looking over at her, his gaze pleading. 

“Not until we know which one it is, Harry,” Nick started, unable to help getting defensive. They had just managed to talk Sabrina out of doing something rash. The last thing they needed was Harvey stirring that up again.

Sabrina rested her hand on his thigh, squeezing slightly in thanks. “We need to know which one it is to banish it and I can’t just go down and demand to know in Hell without screwing with the tentative balance down there.” 

“You’ll figure it out,” Roz replied as she leaned against Harvey. “And I’m going to see if I can find anything in my grandma’s stuff about this kind of thing happening to her or any of the others in my family.”

“I’ll help,” Harvey offered and Roz smiled at him as the aunts returned, handing out tea to everyone, and giving Roz the amulet to wear. 

“Do not take it off,” Zelda warned, doing so would render it useless. “It will hold up just fine in the shower.”

Sabrina watched Rosalind put it on and wondered if maybe each of her friends needed one, and maybe her family as well.She’d talk to the aunts about that after the others left. It definitely couldn’t hurt to have a little extra protection.

* * *

They walked in silence through the woods, taking the long way to the Academy. Nick kept looking over at her, trying to determine what was going through Sabrina’s mind. He could practically see the anger brewing inside of her but the way she bit her bottom lip every so often belied the fear that was mixed in, threatening to pull her down. He reached over, running his hand along her arm and they stopped walking. 

“What did we talk about earlier?” Nick prodded as she didn’t quite look at him.

“No secrets. No rushing off to do anything either.” She had promised him that and Sabrina meant to keep her promise to him. He deserved that, especially after everything that happened. If only she had listened to him about the mandrake spell she never would have fulfilled the final piece of the prophecy and he would never have needed to lock the Dark Lord inside of himself. 

“And we’re there for one another,” Nick reminded, continuing the slow stroke of his hands along her arms. She looked up at that, sighing softly. “So what’s going on in that head of yours, huh?” 

Sabrina didn’t reply right away, not wanting to put any more burden on his shoulders. He had so many already, enough of his own to deal with, but his look was insistent, his touch softening her. The rage that had been building in her since the incident with Roz ebbed and all Sabrina wanted to do was forget everything that had happened, to not think about the never ending path that was laid out in front of them. She moved forward, hugging him tightly, needing to do nothing but exist with him for a few moments. 

Nick held her tightly against him, feeling her shudder slightly in his embrace. He wished he could will his own strength into her the way she had for him the other night, so that he could lessen the burden he could practically see weighing down her shoulders. “I’ve got you,” he murmured against her hair and Sabrina closed her eyes, simply breathing him in. 

It was enough to simply stand there with him, Nick’s touch an anchor she hadn’t realized how much she desperately needed until that moment. It soothed her in ways nothing else quite did, tempering the intensity of her emotions while at other times it pushed at them, sending them to spiral outward with a vibrancy she’d never experienced before. 

Sabrina kissed him, trying to put everything he meant to her in it, to showcase just how grateful she was for him in her life. It was soft, yet insistent, and he followed her lead, not trying to deepen it like he usually would. There would be time for that later. 

They broke apart slightly, leaning toward one another, foreheads touching as she clung to his jacket and he kept stroking up and down her arms. No words were needed with them, the silence between them familiar and comfortable, as they simply breathed, existing in one another’s presence. 

The air shifted around them, alerting the two to someone else’s presence and they looked over, both tensing as they spotted the Plague Kings. Nick moved to stand in front of her, remembering the last time they had both been in the same room with these three. They had wanted Sabrina dead and like Heaven was he about to let that happen. But she caught his hand, urging him to stay at her side as she raised her chin, looking disdainfully at the three.

“Why are you here?” Sabrina demanded as she turned to look at the three better. Nick watched her, noting the way her posture seemed to shift, back straightening and her stance reminding him of her Aunt Zelda’s in that moment. Even the look she directed toward the three was similar to her aunt’s, that mixture of annoyance and vague interest as if deciding whether they were worth her time or not. 

“Your Majesty,” Beelzebub started, bowing slightly, the other two following his lead. 

“There are tasks that need to be done,” Asmodeus told her. “One’s that Lilith would have wait until when you return home, but that suffer without your presence to handle them.”

_Home_. The very thought of them calling that place home for Sabrina made Nick’s stomach turn. That place wasn’t her home and from the way she cringed he had a feeling she felt the same way about it. Or at least that part of her did. 

“I trust Lilith to know what she is doing.” Sabrina shrugged. If this was why they had come to see her they were wasting their time. 

The three spoke one after the other, an annoying habit that Sabrina was realizing seemed to be unique to them. She glanced over at Nick, worried how their presence might be affecting him. Had they taken part in his torture while in Hell? But his expression was hardened, body at the ready to attack if needed, his hands at the ready for a banishing spell.

“Lilith has been working to get the crown for eons.”

“She is manipulating you to retain a sense of power.”

“One she should never have had.”

“One that I wanted her to have,” Sabrina reminded the three as she crossed her arms, already tired of the conversation.

“Because she made you think it would be a suitable idea even though she knew that Hell requires a Morningstar to exist, for the balance to remain,” Beelzebub spat out, disgusted at the trickery.

“And it has one so I’m failing to see why you’re here.” She understood what this was now. A power play of some sort. Which was ridiculous. She had a feeling this sort of thing happened all the time under the Dark Lord’s rule. He probably enjoyed the various demons in his employ fighting against one another and trying to one up one another to earn his good graces. “The tasks can wait until my time comes to return this week. Lilith will send word if my presence is required.”

“Are you certain of that, our Queen?” Beelzebub asked, confirming her suspicions.

“ _Yes._.” She might not exactly trust Lilith with everything, but she did trust her to run Hell. Sabrina knew Lilith wanted it and that she definitely didn’t like the Plague Kings or many of the others that resided in the place. 

“Everything she does has an agenda,” Purson told her and Sabrina shrugged.

“And you don’t?” Every single being down in that place probably had one. At least those who weren’t suffering through eons of torture for their choices on Earth.

“Our agenda is only ever for Hell to prosper,” Asmodeus replied, looking affronted by the accusation. 

Sabrina pressed her lips together at that, the thought of entertaining this conversation any longer leaving a bad taste in her mouth. “Going behind Lilith’s back isn’t earning you any favors. It might have with my Father, but you’re going to find it only annoys me. Backstabbing power plays won’t earn you applause any longer. They’ll only make me question your loyalty to me and to Hell.” 

She looked over at Nick, glancing down at his hands before catching his glance, hoping he was ready to banish them. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“That means you can leave now,” Nick told them, before slamming his fist into his palm, banishing each one back to the pits. 

“Charming as ever,” Sabrina muttered as the last of them disappeared before reaching over to touch Nick’s arm. “Thanks for having my back.”

“Always.” And he meant it. He would follow her anywhere, though he hoped that wouldn’t include going back to Hell, but as she smiled at him, Nick knew he would. No matter how much doing so might break him. “So library?” 

“Library,” Sabrina agreed, tugging his arm to rest across her shoulders as she looped her own around his waist, trying to forget for a few moments that they had just dealt with three demons from Hell. They could deal with the insanity of that entire situation later.

* * *

Zelda closed her eyes at the sound of cleaning happening inside of the kitchen. Dishes clinked together in the sink, the broom swept against the already tidied floor, and she knew if she looked into the room she would find Hilda rearranging the cupboards again. Which meant her sister was fretting. It would have been easy to walk away and ignore it, to simply disappear back up to her room to look in on the sleeping twins, but the sound of a crashing plate and Hilda quietly cursing forced her to act.

“For Hell’s sake, Hilda,” she tsked as she walked into the room, magicking the plate back together and onto the counter. “What has you in such a tizzy now?” 

“Nothing,” Hilda shook her head, scrubbing harder at the pot in the sink before whirling back around, water dripping onto the floor. “We never should have let her take on the duty of queen.”

Zelda sat down at the small table, arching a brow. As if there had been a choice. Hell had obviously been rebelling against Lilith’s rule. It would be an arduous task, but Sabrina could handle it. With help, at least. 

“She’s sixteen,” Hilda continued, back at the sink and slamming pots onto the counter. “Not one hundred. She hasn’t even finished school. She’s barely lived and we’re just going to let her go down there once a week--” she looked back at Zelda pointing a finger at her. “Which we both know won’t keep to being that long. There is no way that will work for more than a week or two. Maybe a little more. It’s a full time job.”

Zelda leaned back in the chair, letting her sister rant. It was so rare that she did, that Zelda knew when Hilda got going it was best to let her get it all out. “We both know what’s happening to Rosalind isn’t some random event,” Hilda muttered, the dishes forgotten as she wrung the rag out. “That’s a targeted attack. Just as Batibat was against Edward.” 

They had never learned who had set the demon against their brother, but it’d had all the signs of a targeted summoning. “Roz would have already known of a demon festering away in the Walker clan from her grandmother long before now. That woman wouldn’t have left out such a critical detail before she died,” Hilda continued as she sat down beside her sister.

“There was no reason to needlessly worry Sabrina,” Zelda replied. They both knew how irrational their niece could be when it was her friends or family being hurt and they couldn’t let her do something rash. “I’ve already started researching in our family’s journals for which demon it is.”

“You know her and Nicholas will be doing that as well at the Academy. Though they were already planning on going to the library there. They were talking about it at breakfast before Roz showed up.” Hilda tapped her fingers against the table. “Which means they were going for another reason that we don’t know about.”

Zelda frowned at the truth of her sister’s words. If the two had gone for another reason that could only mean they were keeping something from them and considering Sabrina’s track record for doing so, it wouldn’t be for anything good. She could already feel the beginnings of a migraine forming along her temples. “Must she always do everything on her own?”

“She’s like Edward in that regard. Thinking she’s protecting us,” Hilda murmured, and the two of them shared a look, their smiles soft as they remembered the countless times their brother had done so through the years. It was a fault of his, one that Sabrina seemed to have inherited. 

Zelda’s smile faded quickly though, her anger taking over. “Yes, and it got him killed.” She might have told them all that Sabrina’s claims of Faustus causing the plane crash were unfounded rumors but after enduring her time under the warlock’s control she wasn’t as certain of that as she had been. Could he have killed Edward and Diana for his own gain? Most definitely. The position of High Priest had practically been handed to him with their brother’s death.

“We will not let anything happen to Sabrina.” Queen or not, she was still a member of the Spellman family and subject to the rules of their household. 

“What do you suggest?” Because Hilda was at a loss for what to do. 

“Family meeting when they return.” They would need to do it without Ambrose this time, but Zelda knew he’d agree with all she would have to say. “It’s high time we get it through that girl’s head that we are all better together and that she is not to keep secrets from us anymore.” 

Because they would not lose Sabrina. None of their hearts could afford it.

* * *

Nick put the last of Edward Spellman’s journals down on the pile. It was odd to be in the library without Cassius around to gather books for them or remind them about appropriate volume. So many of the coven were dead and Nick wasn’t entirely sure who had been saved and who had died, but he had a feeling Cassius wasn’t among the living. There was no way the warlock would have left his post at the library if he had lived, but Nick pushed thoughts of that away, not wanting to focus on it.

Sabrina was looking through another of the demon texts, adding to her ever growing list of possible candidates for Roz’s one, and Nick could see the frustration growing with each name she wrote. He moved behind her and massaged her shoulders, trying to alleviate the tension in them. “It looks long now, but we’ll narrow it down later,” he reminded her, enjoying her moan. 

She leaned back in the chair, letting her head fall back so she could look up at him, and pouted. Sabrina knew he was right, that writing all of them down would be helpful for crossing them off later. But it was daunting to see just how many sleep demons there were. Especially when her brain tried to connect the fact that she was technically _in charge_ of all of them. 

“It would be really handy if we could just open the book, ask which demon it is that’s bothering us, and the pages flip to it on their own, revealing the answer,” she murmured as he sat down on the chair next to hers. “Someone needs to invent that spell.”

“If anyone could it would be you,” Nick pointed out, and Sabrina leaned toward him, enjoying the lightness in the moment as he teased her. “And then knowing your penchant for trouble the demon would probably appear in the middle of the room and try to kill us.” 

It would be their luck that it would happen exactly like that. Though maybe now the demon would just bow and call her ‘your majesty’ and she almost wished it would just attack instead. “You think you’re so smart,” Sabrina teased, reminded of a moment with him back in her bedroom before Ambrose had appeared, bloody and shaken after the death of the Antipope. 

“I know I am,” Nick replied, smirking, and Sabrina laughed before he kissed her, alleviating the tension that had built up in the room as they had searched. 

She moved as she continued to kiss him, settling down on his lap as they lost themselves in one another, everything else forgotten. It was like making up for lost time, so many weeks without one another’s presence, missing each other’s touch led them to seeking it out with each turn. Simple brushes of his hand against hers or even standing close to one another had been enough, but they both wanted more, they _needed_ more. The desire that had been building between the two since they had met was coming to a head and Sabrina remembered her talk with Roz before Lupercalia. She hadn’t been sure back then, but as she gently scraped her teeth against his neck before soothing his skin with her tongue, she knew for certain now what she wanted. 

His moan urged her on, his hands slipping under her shirt to slide against her skin causing her to gasp. 

“We didn’t know you had it in you, Sabrina,” Agatha’s voice cut through the air, and the pair of them stilled, spotting the two Weird sisters standing by one of the bookshelves.

“Kinky in the library,” Dorcas continued as she moved to sit down on the table opposite them. “We never all made out in here.”

“Though it was always a fantasy of yours, wasn’t it, Nicky?” Agatha continued as she joined her sister. “What’s the mortal term for it, Sabrina?”

“Oh right,” Dorcas mused. “You’re such a little nerd, Nick.”

Sabrina looked at Nick and rolled her eyes at their antics but didn’t bother moving from him yet. He hadn’t moved his hands from her back, still drawing little patterns against her skin. “Did you two need something?” she asked, glancing back at them. 

“Actually, we came to see if you did,” Agatha replied and that surprised Sabrina. The two of them had never been all that helpful to her without Prudence’s prodding.

“Since you’re now queen,” Dorcas added and Sabrina frowned at that, shifting on Nick’s lap so that she was facing the two. Turning around to look at them had begun to hurt her neck.

“At least that’s the rumor going around.” Agatha and Dorcas looked at one another before turning their attention back to Sabrina, sizing her up. 

“You know you shouldn’t believe everything you hear,” Sabrina told them, leaning forward on the table. 

Agatha and Dorcas both arched a brow, looking at one another before back at her again, their smiles identical. “Here we go,” Nick muttered in Sabrina’s ear as he leaned forward with her, tightening his arm around her waist. 

It was odd to watch the two girls talk, one after the other, reminding Sabrina a bit of the Plague Kings, except they were missing their third. 

“You sent Typhon back to Hell.”

“Called yourself Sabrina Morningstar.”

“Brought back Melvin and Elspeth.”

“You gave us more power.”

“And the Dark Lord is locked away in that golem that we helped make.”

“Someone has to be in charge down there,” Agatha continued as they started to make their way around the table. She went left while Dorcas walked to the right. “It would make sense that it would be you.”

“So we just wanted you to know that you have our loyalty,” Dorcas told her as she sat back on the table on one side of the two while Agatha sat on the other.

“The others will probably let you know that too, but we wanted to be first,” Agatha added, and Sabrina frowned at that.

“Others?” What others.

“The students,” Agatha replied.

“You saved us all. And then your Aunts saved us again,” Dorcas reminded before pushing up off the table, Agatha following suit. “That isn’t so easily forgotten.”

“So let us know if you need any help,” Agatha told her, before bending forward. “He really likes when you bite his ear.”

She ruffled Nick’s hair before the two of them strode out of the library. 

Sabrina waited until they heard the library doors shut behind the girls before she looked at Nick. “Did that actually just happen?”

Nick shook his head before shrugging his shoulders, not even sure what to say to anything that had just occurred. “Why don’t we just take these home and finish up there?” he suggested, not entirely sure what in his question had caused Sabrina to smile as brightly as she was at him. But he’d take it.

“I like that plan,” she murmured before kissing him again.

_Home_. 

He’d called the mortuary home.

* * *

“They have returned to their burroughs,” the minion informed her and Lilith looked out at the expanse of Hell from the top of Pandemonium. 

The Plague Kings were plotting, just as she’d known they would. Her spies throughout Hell had alerted her to their departure and it didn’t take much to determine that they had gone to see Sabrina. They were fools for believing that doing so would earn them any sort of favor. The girl preferred true loyalty, not the facade of it that those in Hell had become so accustomed to; backstabbing one another in order to rise further in the ranks. 

She strummed her nails against the golden stone, contemplating how best to use her knowledge of Sabrina to manipulate the girl. Lilith had gotten to know her over the last few months, had seen the child’s weaknesses and strengths. She couldn’t usurp the throne from her, Hell had seen to that with its theatrics, but she could guide the girl onto the path she wanted her to take. Just as she’d done before on Earth.

Her family accompanying her could prove to be a nuisance but Hell offered up enough distractions that she could hopefully lay at their feet. 

Lilith nearly called for Stolis, just as she’d have done countless times while in Hell and on Earth, but the bitter memory of his latest betrayal and Adam’s death still cut her deeply. A brief chance at something resembling happiness stolen from her just as everything else had been taken. No matter. She needed no one when she had power nearly in her grasp.

Loneliness was a second skin that she wore all too well. Though perhaps, once she was done molding Sabrina into the perfect puppet, she would at least have someone worthy enough for a decent conversation or two through the ages.

“Bring me someone to torture,” she told the minor demon. Might as well have a little bit of fun before handling more paperwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the aunts aren't happy, Hell is rather annoying, but at least Sabrina and Nick are working together pretty well.
> 
> Next chapter will be a Spellman meeting, Prudence and Ambrose, and Nick and Sabrina learning a few things from her dad's journals.


	9. Chapter 9

_“You could set the world on fire and I would still be on your side”  
_

Edward Spellman had written more journals than Sabrina had ever imagined possible. There wasn’t one for every year of his life or anything ridiculous like that, but there were at least fifty. Somehow they had managed to stuff them all into her bag, with Nick carrying a few of the demonology texts for them to continue scanning through as well. They bounded up the stairs of the mortuary, finding Salem basking in the sun at the top, letting out a piteous meow as they neared.

“Have I been neglecting you?” Sabrina reached down, rubbing her familiar’s belly, earning a satisfied purr before the two headed into the house.

“Hello, love,” Hilda started, poking around the corner. “Why don’t you two come into the kitchen, hmm?” She didn’t wait for an answer and Sabrina glanced over at Nick who simply shrugged. It was her aunt. She had to know Hilda’s mannerisms better than he did. 

They followed after, shifting the books and bag to try and get a better hold on them. Sabrina quirked her lips as she found Zelda sitting at the table, cigarette perched in a holder and fixing her gaze on the two of them. Sabrina glanced over at Hilda who was busying herself with a tray of biscuits and she _knew_ they were in trouble. This was the exact same setup that she had stumbled into after trying to sneak in a toad to her bedroom when she was eight, and that time she’d snuck out late at night to catch fireflies with Roz, or a million other scenarios when she had tried to keep something from them.

“You’re free to stay, Nicholas,” Zelda started, motioning for Sabrina to take a seat. “But it's high time we Spellmans had a chat.”

“Surely you didn’t need that many books on demonology for your list,” Hilda tsked as she set down the tray before sitting by her sister. 

Sabrina reluctantly took the seat opposite from them, knowing full well that there was no getting out of this conversation. Nick sat next to her and part of her wanted to tell him that it was okay, that he could retreat, but she was also grateful for his presence. 

“From our own sources I was able to narrow the list down to twenty powerful enough to do what is happening to Rosalind,” Zelda added, flicking ash into the small ashtray. “Did you abscond with every lesser text on demonology as well just in case the classics missed something?”

Sabrina set the bag down at her feet. There was little point in lying. They could always look inside. “I got my father’s journals.”

“Why?” Hilda asked, concern overriding the stern exterior that she’d been working to exude. Zelda glared at her, trying to remind her that they needed to be a united front in this conversation.

Sabrina leaned back against the chair and looked over at Nick. He was nodding, urging her to fill them in and she sighed. “Because he told me to.” 

“I’m sorry, what?” Hilda asked, while Zelda directed her attention toward the ceiling, muttering ‘demons preserve us’.

“He came to me last night. In my room,” Sabrina started, and that caught Zelda’s attention.

“Edward was here?” Hilda asked.

“If this is like the last time, Sabrina,” Zelda started, remembering the insanity that had happened at her wedding to Blackwood, but her niece was shaking her head. She looked so small in that moment, reminding Zelda of how vulnerable the girl had been after everything with Tommy had come to a head. 

“No. It was him.” Sabrina breathed out slowly, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. “I know it was him.” Nick reached over, squeezing her arm, his touch calming her nerves.

Zelda looked over at Hilda, longing for their brother passing between them, a deep seeded wound that had never truly healed and neither doubted that it ever would. “Why did he come to you?” Hilda asked as she turned her attention back to Sabrina, nudging the tray of cookies forward. 

Sabrina ignored it, pressing her lips together as everything her father had revealed to her and Nick played out in her head. The happiness mixed with loss and confusion weighed heavy on her heart; that sense of everything about her life not truly being her choice wanting to crush her. She reached over for Nick, thankful that he caught hold of her hand. 

Zelda rested the cigarette down. “Sabrina. I’m aware that you have this foolhardy notion that by keeping things from us you are protecting us and lessening our load, but honestly all you’re doing is turning your Aunt Hilda’s hair white and causing me to smoke more because of the added worry.” 

“He said the prophecy that we saw in the mines about me being the Dark Lord’s herald wasn’t the only one. And basically he’d been planning his whole life to create me and change how the world is.” Her voice sounded hollow to even her ears and Nick linked their fingers together, giving her hand a squeeze. 

“What?” Hilda’s eyes widened at her words while Zelda shook her head.

“Nonsense. Your father wasn’t planning anything of the sort.” She picked the cigarette back up, still shaking her head.

“He said Aunt Priscila told him her last prophecy before she died and it was about me,” Sabrina continued and that caused both of her aunts to breathe deeply before they looked at one another again. 

“He would never tell any of us what it was about.” Zelda sighed, brow furrowed in irritation.

“We all asked but he was mum about it,” Hilda added, reaching over to take one of the cookies.

“But what do you mean by changing the world and creating you?” Zelda asked, the cigarette laid down again as she reached across the table, taking hold of Sabrina’s hand that was resting on top of it. “He wanted you, Sabrina. They both were so desperate for a child.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to reply to that, but all she seemed to be able to do was breathe shakily in response. “Apparently your brother hadn’t been happy with the status quo for witches for centuries,” Nick told them, rubbing his hand against Sabrina’s back. “He didn’t like how either of you were treated as lesser. Which makes sense when you look at his manifesto. It’s pretty big on witches being revered. We don’t know exactly what Priscila’s prophecy said but Ed--Mr. Spellman said that it continued the Shadow Girl one, that she would bring about the era of the Morningstar.”

“Era of the Morningstar?” Hilda asked, taking another cookie.

“It's the last tenant of his manifesto,” Nick explained.

“Only the true union of mortals and their witch brethren will bring the era of the Morningstar,” Sabrina murmured, her voice sounding hollow to her own ears.

“Sabrina is that Morningstar,” Nick continued, and Zelda scoffed.

“His ridiculous notion that mortal and witchkind could live together in peace, happily skipping about and holding hands.” It was absurd. Everyone knew what happened when mortals knew about witches.

“I don’t think that’s what he meant,” Sabrina started. She wanted to continue that thought but wasn’t entirely sure how to word it. “Not exactly.”

“Then what?” Zelda eyed her, gaze almost softening as she watched her niece struggle to find her voice.

“I...I think it's more we don’t seek to hurt one another.” Sabrina looked over at Nick, who nodded, encouraging her to continue. “That we work to help one another.”

Zelda crossed her arms. “We don’t seek to hurt mortals, Sabrina.”

“But some do,” Sabrina pointed out. “Torturing mortal boys is one of the Weird Sisters favorite pastimes.”

“And some covens do delight in performing certain ceremonies that require mortal blood,” Hilda reminded. There were several scattered around the world who did a lot more horrid rituals than the Church of Night had throughout the centuries. Not that they had ever been innocent. “Or their fear to complete a spell or a sacred right.”

“It's ludicrous,” Zelda scoffed, waving them off. “Every attempt to coexist with them knowing anything about us has ended in hangings and burnings.”

“Maybe they aren’t all supposed to know,” Sabrina reasoned, trying to piece together what her father had wanted. But she didn’t have all of the pieces. Not yet anyway. “I don’t know. I haven’t really figured any of that out. Though jumping off the roof and showing everyone I can fly is probably off the table.”

Zelda eyed her carefully. “Please tell me that wasn’t actually ever a plan of yours?”

“Um.” Sabrina shrugged, not able to deny it.

“Lilith preserve us ,” Zelda muttered as she glanced back up at the ceiling. 

“We think there might be more answers in the journals,” Nick started, nodding toward the bag on the floor. “He wanted Sabrina to retrieve them.”

“And he said to ask you about his hiding places?” Sabrina added. “And that something is coming. I don’t think that something was good.”

Zelda pursed her lips at that. If Edward was warning them of things to come they would need to prepare, but first to the matters at hand. “We’ll divy up the books.” She looked at the three of them. “Each of us will read and see what we might be able to glean from them.” They all nodded and she focused her attention on her niece. “There will be no more secrets from one another, do you understand me? We share everything, Sabrina. Your father didn’t and look what happened to him. We will not have anything of the sort happen to you.”

“And I’ll make a list of hiding spots that he was fond of using,” Hilda added, moving to get paper and a pen. “They won’t all be here though. Some of his favorites were back in England.”

“Would we still have access to them?” Sabrina asked, finally leaning over to snag a cookie. She got one for Nick as well.

“Of course. You didn’t think this was the only house we own, did you?” Zelda snorted at the very idea of it.

“Well...yeah?” Sabrina looked between all of them, narrowing her eyes as Nick coughed, a bit of the cookie going down the wrong pipe as he tried not to laugh.

Zelda glared at Hilda. “And this is why I said we needed to fill her in on more as she grew up.”

“We didn’t want her saying anything that might have the other children thinking she was weird,” Hilda reminded as she sat back down with her paper.

Zelda rolled her eyes. “She grew up in a mortuary. She was always going to be odd.”

“Witches tend to have multiple households around the world, Sabrina, so we can move to them when mortals start noticing the fact that we don’t age,” Nick explained, and she noted the mischievous gleam in his eyes. 

“When exactly were you going to tell me this?” Sabrina looked back at her aunts, arching a brow at them.

“We had at least ten years before anyone started to really question anything.” Zelda shrugged.

“And we were just going to uproot our lives?” Sabrina scrunched her nose, not liking that idea at all.

“We could have extended our time here a bit by relocating to Riverdale for another decade or so. Or simply cut ourselves off from the rest of the town with a few spells if you were insistent on staying.” She liked that idea even less.

“We figured you would be,” Hilda murmured. 

“But back to the journals. Set them on the table, Nicholas, so we can divy them up and we can all start perusing them for anything that Edward might have decided to leave for us to understand.” Zelda rose, moving to retrieve another cigarette. “Do try and get some rest tonight though, Sabrina. You only have one more before we’re due to head to Hell.”

She had been trying to forget about that and felt Nick stiffen beside her. “Right.” Sabrina reached over, rubbing her hand against his arm before the two started putting the books on the table.

“I’ll order pizza,” Hilda offered, rising to do so.

Zelda moved around the table, stopping beside Sabrina. “I mean it though, Sabrina. No more secrets. Or your cousins house arrest will pale in comparison to the one I ensure you endure. Queen of Hell or not.”

She pressed a kiss to the top of Sabrina’s head before moving to leave the kitchen. “Get the meat lovers, Hildy.”

* * *

Prudence hunched behind the rocks, Ambrose at her side, the two of them surveying the stream of warlocks into the desecrated church on the mountainside. They had counted sixty in the hour since they had finally located it, uncertain how many had gone inside before that. But it was the demons surrounding the church that had their attention, Ambrose utilizing a spell to capture their likeness on the pad of paper. They would need it for determining who exactly they were dealing with.

They had heard the whispers in the nearby community of the warlock exalting himself over the Council, exerting that he was the Dark Lord’s chosen one. It reeked off her father, that grandiose belief in himself wrapping tighter, and their confirmations had been concerned when he’d appeared briefly outside the church to greet the new recruits.

She had wanted to attack then, other warlocks be damned, but Ambrose had noted the shields put into place. It would have been useless. They never would have gotten anywhere near him. 

And the demons were an added problem she really didn’t want to deal with.

“Can’t we call Sabrina and get her to yank on their leash?” Prudence muttered, glancing over at Ambrose. “They should listen.” What was the point in the girl taking over Hell if they couldn’t use that position to their advantage?

“Unless he has them blood bound to him,” Ambrose pointed out, causing Prudence to twist her lips.

“Point.” It was definitely something her father would do.

Ambrose looked down at the sketches. He had a feeling he knew at least one of the demons but the others were a mystery to him. Then there was the fact that binding and banishing this many was going to require a very skilled warlock or witch. There was only one that he knew would be capable of it. “We’re going to need Nick.”

“Do you think he’s ready for this?” Prudence wasn’t so sure that he would be. Though maybe it was what he needed to help him through everything. 

“He has to be.” Because whatever Father Blackwood was planning needed to be stopped. “I say we stake this out today and tomorrow. Make sure we know how many demons we’re dealing with and what they look like.” Ambrose held up the pile of sketches they had so far. He’d snap some photos as well, but Nick didn’t have a phone so it wasn’t as though he could text the images to him. “Then we’ll get him these sketches so he’ll know what he needs to banish.” 

They could stop back in Greendale on Sunday. Sabrina would be in Hell. They could banish these demons and kill Blackwood without her being any wiser to the risk they would be putting Nick in. Ambrose knew the warlock would want to help because the one thing Father Blackwood wanted more than power was to destroy the Spellmans. And that meant destroying Sabrina. Something Ambrose knew Nick would be fully against. 

“And then we’ll get him back to Greendale without Sabrina needing to know.” Easy peasy. Probably.

“Alright.” She could agree to that. Besides, Nick would probably appreciate being part of the action. There was only so much book reading anyone could do before becoming cross eyed. Even if he seemed to enjoy that. He did have that love of an adrenaline rush like all witches and warlocks. “And then we take down my father.” 

Because Prudence wouldn’t rest until he was dead.

And neither would Ambrose. Not after all he’d done to his family over the last few months.

“Agreed.”

* * *

“And you’re keeping the amulet on, yeah?” Sabrina asked as she scanned the journal entry, looking for anything that might stick out to her. When she’d figured out the acheron configuration she’d noticed how the pages were creased, that they had spelled out her mother’s name at the top, giving way to the coded instructions. She had a feeling the key to everything would be found in a similar hidden message. 

“I won’t take it off. Don’t worry, Brina,” Roz assured her friend and Sabrina ran her finger down the page, noting the crease in it.

“You collapsed on my living room floor, Roz. I’m going to worry.” The amulet helped alleviate that a bit, but she still didn’t appreciate that a demon was able to mess with her friends. 

She heard her friend sigh at that. “Just like we’re all going to worry about you going to Hell tomorrow.” 

Sabrina shrugged, though she knew it was her turn to try and be reassuring. “I’ll be fine. It has to listen to me, remember?” She glanced over at Nick who was propped up against the pillows of her bed and reading through one of the journals. She didn’t want to say Hell, didn’t want him to worry or to see his body tense up like it did whenever anyone said the word. 

“I know, but…” Roz trailed off. Sabrina could imagine what was going through her best friend’s head. Roz was a preacher’s daughter, everything about Hell was horrid and awul. Their trip down there had only cemented that fact. Knowing her best friend was the Devil’s daughter couldn’t be easy to wrap her head around. “Just be careful, okay?”

“I will,” Sabrina promised. As careful as she could be anyway.

“Harvey’s calling but I’ll talk to you tonight.” They said their goodbyes and Sabrina set the phone back on the receiver before scooting back to sit by Nick. 

“I keep seeing these initials in this one.” She showed him how a section of pages folded into perfect triangles one on top of the other. N.S. was written in each corner. 

“I’m getting the same in this one.” Nick showed her the same pattern taking shape with the pages.

“What year are these books?” she asked, even as she turned hers back to the cover. “1860.”

“1950.” Nearly one hundred years apart.

Maybe it was a coincidence but Sabrina didn’t really believe in those. Nothing ever seemed to pan out that way for her. Everything meant something. “Maybe put these two together to look at thoroughly?”

Nick accepted the other book from her and placed them on the bedside table beside him before delving into the next book. He always found it fascinating to see how the language in them changed, the style of writing reflecting the century that Edward had been in when he’d written them. The flowery script of the older texts had given way to a much more precise letter formation, calligraphy out the window as ink had given way to the pens he’d seen Sabrina biting down on during class. 

It was like picking through straws though with neither of them truly knowing what to look for. Was anything that they found something that had nothing to do with the prophecy but something else entirely? Like the acheron...though Nick supposed even that had been tied to the prophecy. Without it they never would have come up with how to lock the Dark Lord away. 

“I met with R.S. today. His and T.S. union is a powerful one, bolstered by their ties to the wolf packs. I believe I may have found where the boy will come from,” Sabrina read outloud, before flicking back to the front. “The boy?” What did a boy have to do with anything? Had her father thought she would be a boy at first? That he wasn’t the one who was supposed to have her? Except that didn’t match up with what he’d talked about earlier.

“You haven’t seen that crop up anywhere else?” Nick asked, adding the book to the pile on the nightstand before picking up another.

“No.” Not that she’d seen yet anyway. There were still so many to look through and then the ones that her aunts were going through as well. Who was the boy? What was so important about some boy? Where did N.S. would come from? For a moment she considered the initials and Nick. Nicholas Scratch did fit that, but it was a ridiculous notion. All of the entries were from well before he’d been born.

A knock at her bedroom door had them both looking up. “Everyone decent?” Hilda called out, waiting for confirmation.

“You can come in, Auntie.” Sabrina shook her head, and Nick grinned, liking the way she blushed. 

The door opened with Hilda peeking around it quickly before entering the room. She held a journal in her hands and set it down on the bed. It looked newer than the others. “It’s your father’s. I was going to give it to you when you were older.”

Sabrina picked it up, fingers brushing over the twine wrapped around it, keeping it closed. “I thought you donated all of them to the Academy.”

“Not that one.” Hilda shook her head. “He’d wanted you to have it. It's the year leading up to your birth.” 

“Have you read it?” Sabrina didn’t think so. The twine looked weathered, as though it hadn’t been touched in...well sixteen years.

“No. He wrote it for you.” Hilda motioned for her to open it.

Sabrina did so, carefully untying it. The knot was like the one Aunt Zelda made, the one’s her aunt had taught her how to make when she was little. She ran her fingers along the leather of the cover before finally opening to the first page. 

_To my darling daughter, Sabrina._

She had seen her father’s writing countless times before that moment, but it was still startling to see it when he’d intended it to be for her. She traced her name, noting the curve of the S, how it was bigger than the other letters. A tear slid down her cheek, hitting the paper below and she wiped at her face. He’d written this for her, more confirmation that he’d known he might be killed.

_Dad_.

“I got her,” Nick assured Hilda, who nodded before quietly exiting the room. 

He rubbed Sabrina’s arm as he scooted closer to her, knowing that she would want the connection. The simple touches on her arm, her back, a hug, or a squeeze he’d come to realize meant more than a kiss. He’d seen that the Spellmans took comfort in one another’s presence. Even Zelda who appeared hardened to everything would brush Sabrina’s hair when she walked by her or reach out and run a finger along her niece’s arm as they passed by one another. A little reminder that they were there, that they cared. 

“Look at it with me, please,” Sabrina murmured, shifting so the book was between the two of them.

“Are you sure?” he asked, brushing her hair behind her ear. This was from her father, a connection he knew she had been desperate for all of her life. He was familiar with that ache. He’d known his parents, at least for a few years, but he didn’t remember them beyond the few photographs or portraits he still owned. He wondered about them sometimes at night though, mostly remembering their screams, his own having been cut off as Amalia had dragged him to safety. 

Sabrina looped her arm around his waist as she curled against him, nodding as she began flipping through the pages. She wasn’t ready to read the words just yet. It was all too much to see her name in his handwriting. 

There were sketches of her mother, each showing a growing baby bump. Her mother’s smile widening with each one as well, so much love and laughter echoing in each picture. “You were loved, Spellman,” Nick murmured, knowing she’d been fighting internally with the idea that she’d just been a plan, a means to an end for the fulfilment of the prophecy. It was obvious that wasn’t the case as they looked at the detail put into Diana’s sketch though, the way she radiated in black and white. 

Sabrina flipped again and Nick tensed at the sketch of the boy on the next page. “Nick?” 

He sucked in a breath, not quite believing his eyes as he stared down at it. “That’s me.”

“What?” Sabrina looked over at him and then back down at the sketch. The eyes were similar.

“That’s me,” Nick reiterated. “As a boy.” Five. He was pretty sure that’s how old he was there. Maybe four. The age he’d been when his world had turned upside down. Except he was smiling in the sketch so it had to be before any of that.

“Are you sure?” Sabrina asked and Nick didn’t think as he teleported the two of them. They arrived on his old bed in the Academy. It seemed no one else had tried to take his room. Maybe they hadn’t been able to get past the wards he’d put on it. “Nick?”

He held up a hand, needing her to wait as he moved, crouching down to reach under the bed to retrieve the box attached to it. He opened it and pulled out the black and white photos he had of his parents and the one of the three of them. It was the same boy as in the sketch. He laid it down in the book next to it, hearing Sabrina’s sudden intake as she made the connection as well. 

“Why would my father draw a picture of you?” she asked as she picked up the photograph. 

“I don’t know.” He thought back to the N.S. and closed his eyes, to the boy that needed to be found. Could it be so simple? “N.S.” 

“Nick?” Sabrina asked, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer.

Nick handed her the photograph, turning it over. _R.S. and T.S. with N.S._ was written on the back. All of the initials that had been spoken about earlier. He never thought of his parents’ names. They had weathered in the wind, their voices one’s he couldn’t remember, their words meaningless after so many years without them. No one at the Academy had spoken of them, though he’d known he came from money, that the Scratch dynasty reached far back through the centuries. No one else had stepped up to claim him though when he’d finally been found. But the money tied to his name had been there at his disposal. 

“Why would my father have written about you?” Sabrina murmured, staring down at the initials and then back at the sketch of Nick. She scanned the page in the book before it, looking for anything of importance, but there was nothing. And nothing on the next either. Of course nothing was straight forward. That seemed to be the way of Edward Spellman’s journals. There was always some sort of puzzle to put together.

“I don’t know,” Nick replied, placing the pictures back into the box as he racked his brain, trying to remember anything that could help. But everything about his childhood was a blur, one blotted out by screams, blood and a wolf’s howl. How would he have known his name over a hundred years ago? It was a token to the Dark Lord, Nick knew that. It was common for witch families to give their children names that beckoned back to different monikers of the devil throughout the ages. Or were the letters newer? 

Sabrina reached over, brushing her thumb against his cheek. “Maybe there are answers in here that we just haven’t found yet.” There had to be. 

He caught her hand, turning his head so that could kiss her palm. “I should have put the connection together sooner. Those initials, the mention about wolves. They’re on the family crest.”

“You have a family crest?” She tried not to look as incredulous as she felt. 

“You probably have one too, Spellman. Your family is ancient.” Nick laughed as she scrunched her nose, wondering what else she didn’t quite know about her lineage. “I think I’ll bring this back with us.” 

“You can even hide it under the bed if you want,” Sabrina teased before looking around the room. “Do you want to get anything else from here?” She paused, feeling uncertain as she swallowed. “Unless you want to keep this as your backup place.” 

“You already got all of my books and clothes,” Nick told her as he looked around as well. “This is the only other thing that matters and you couldn’t have known about it.” No one did. Not even the Weird Sisters. “Let’s go home and try and figure out why your father was writing about me.”

Because the Academy wasn’t home any longer. He realized that. It had been for several years and he’d been devastated to lose it after the two had been expelled. The thought of living on his own in some random house had been daunting. The solitude of it was something he never wanted to experience and he had lashed out at her over that loss. 

But he had Sabrina and while he didn’t understand it he knew that when he was with her, no matter where they might be, that he was home. 

It was a quick teleportation back to her bedroom and they settled back against the pillows to look through the journals. Nick picked up the two with his initials and the one that had mentioned ‘the boy’, trying to gleam some new insight from them as he painstakingly read through them while Sabrina curled up against him, slowly reading through the journal that had been written for her. 

They stayed in that position for over an hour before the sound of thousands of wings could be heard in the distance. Zelda pushed open the door. “Close all the windows,” she ordered and they quickly moved to do so.

“What’s going on?” Sabrina asked, trying to see out into the moonless night. 

“It seems the rain from the other day brought about a flurry of insects. It should be over in a few hours but they’re such an annoyance if they get into the greenhouse.” Zelda shrugged before beckoning them forward. “Now come along. We need to make sure every other window is shut.” She spared them one last glance. “And then Sabrina, the journals can wait. You need your sleep before Lilith comes for us tomorrow.”

They stilled, Nick and Sabrina looking at one another as they realized that tomorrow was Sunday and that meant she was heading back to Hell. “Don’t dawdle, children,” Zelda snapped as she headed out, and they moved quickly to help shut every window.

When they wound up back in Sabrina’s room half an hour later the journals were set to the side before they got under the covers together. Nick was tense, the muscles in his body coiled tightly as he thought of her in that place that had caused him nothing but pain. The fact that he couldn’t go with her, that he couldn’t protect her from the atrocities that were there, that part of Sabrina belonged to that world horrified him in ways he’d never felt before. He had to believe that she would be alright. She was fearless and headstrong, a bright light in all of that darkness. She would come back to him.

He couldn’t imagine it going any other way. Part of him wanted to shake her, to scream at her not to go, that it wasn’t safe with the Dark Lord down there. It didn’t matter if he was trapped. Didn’t she remember how he could pull her into his own consciousness? But he couldn’t do any of that. He wouldn’t be the guy who told her what to do. 

Sabrina hugged him tightly, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, and closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t want to leave him alone, didn’t want him there on earth with no one around for him to fall back on. Prudence and Ambrose were gone and she didn’t think Agatha, Dorcas or any of the other students would know what to do. She didn’t even always know what to do, simply reaching out to be a comforting hand when she could be. 

There were no words between them, neither wanting to express their fears for the other as time ticked by, lulling Sabrina into an uneasy sleep.

Nick never managed to get any sleep that night. He felt Sabrina fall into a fitful one against him, her hands curled tightly in the shirt he wore, soft whimpers escaping her mouth every so often, and he’d simply held her close. He smoothed down her hair, whispered his own reassurances as he steadfastly worked to keep his eyes open. Nick could feel the tendrils of nightmares calling for him, whispers of what waited if he succumbed to sleep waiting to play out. He kept his focus on Sabrina, watching the way she breathed, the way she moved with the rise and fall of his chest. 

The shadows dancing around the room didn’t help though, tugging at the worst parts of his imagination, mixing with the memories of all the Dark Lord had thrust into him. She was going back down to that place of horrors, would be surrounded by those who helped prolong his suffering, in a world where everyone and everything worked against one another. 

And he wouldn’t be there at her side.

Part of him wanted to tell her he’d go with her, that he would stay at her side through everything, even Hell all over again. But his voice died in his throat when he tried and it took everything to keep the panic at bay in those moments. 

He could practically hear the Dark Lord’s voice, that smug, delighted tone that sent his spine tightening and hands clenching into fists. _“She’s mine.”_

No. She wasn’t Satan’s. Nick wouldn’t even claim her as his own. Sabrina Spellman belonged to herself. She was her own and no man--the Devil or not--would ever own her. She wasn’t something that would ever be caged. 

Not as he had been, inside and out.

Nick took deep breaths as the panic started to take hold, rising inside of him quickly, and overwhelming him. “Nick?” Sabrina’s voice seemed so far away in that moment, full of sleep and confusion, as he let go of her and bolted upright, gasping for air. 

She rubbed his back, murmuring to him in the same manner he had been doing for her. Sweat beaded his forehead and he reached up, pressing his hands to his head, his fingers wrapping tightly around his curls. He shut his eyes, unable to stop rocking back and forth as Sabrina moved, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and shifted, clinging desperately to her as he continued to gasp for air, his body shaking. 

“I’ve got you,” she murmured, holding on tightly as she tried to soothe him, to be the anchor he was so often for her. “I’ve got you, Nick.”

Neither were sure how much time passed before he’d stopped trembling in her arms, the panic that had taken hold receding. He didn’t move from her, resting his head against her chest as Sabrina leaned back against her pillows. She threaded her fingers through his hair as they laid together, his breathing becoming closer to normal.

“I don’t know if it’ll help to talk about it or if you even can yet,” she murmured, her voice soft, barely audible, “but I’ll listen whenever you are ready.”

“I know.” And he did know that; he just wasn’t sure if he wanted to burden her with the horrors. He’d been the one to say they wouldn’t keep things from one another though. Was it fair to do so now?

“It doesn’t have to be with me if you don’t want to,” Sabrina continued, though she wasn’t sure who else he could talk to. Maybe Ambrose? Or possibly Zelda. Both had been violated in similar ways, though not to the extent Nick had. But they could understand. Ambrose already had seemed to before.

Nick pulled back, moving to sit up as he worked to gather the words to say to express any of it. “I don’t want you going there.” It wasn’t what he’d meant to say, but the words poured out, the intensity of them scaring him. “Their vipers. They stamp out everything good until there’s nothing less. And you’re light, Sabrina.”

She wasn’t so sure that was true. She was the daughter of chaos. How could she be light?

“They’ll want to dig their claws into you and rip you apart. Mold you into what they want,” Nick continued, and he reached over, cradling her face in his hands. They would want to blot out everything that made her who she was, to twist and break her.

“I won’t let them,” she told him, placing her hands over his.

And he did believe that. If anyone could overpower them Nick knew it could be her, but that didn’t stop him from hating that there was an opportunity for them to do so and that he wouldn’t be there to put a stop to it.

“Is that what he did to you?” Sabrina asked, looking closely at him. “Tried to stamp out your light?”

Nick pulled away then. “I didn’t have much good in me anyway.” He was a liar, a warlock who embarked down every road of pleasure provided to them. It was why the Dark Lord had been able to torture him for so long.

Sabrina moved after him, catching his hand. “That’s not true.” She could see the guilt etched into his features and had a feeling he was beating himself about the lies, about how he’d served the Dark Lord. But Sabrina knew all too well that one didn’t simply say no to him and if she’d grown up without all of her experiences would she ever doubted that what he’d asked of her wasn’t the path to follow? “If you had no good in you then he would have overpowered you right away, Nick. You were able to fight him off because there is _so much good in you_. So much light that you don’t realize you have. You went and protected Harvey for me.”

Nick shook his head. “Because you asked.”

“You could have just said you tried and left him to his fate,” she pointed out, tugging him to look at her. “But you didn’t. You loved Amalia. You get amazed with every single mortal thing that I show you. You have this endless curiosity, this thirst for knowledge that’s so remarkable to watch. And you love me, the Devil’s daughter.” 

Nick caught her hand at that. “You’re not his.” 

He saw the doubt in her expression, the fear that seemed to crawl up her back at the truth of her heritage. She claimed the Spellmans as her own but Hell had claimed her as well. “You’re not his,” he repeated before closing the distance between them to kiss her. 

It was desperate, his hands moving to her hair as he pressed her back against the bed. He’d always let her lead, allowed her to set the pace between them, never wanting to pressure her. But he needed to wipe the idea that she belonged to Lucifer in any way from her mind, to ease the worry that he’d seened etched into her features. Especially before she went down into the depths of Hell. 

“Nick,” she gasped as he broke from her, removing his shirt and tossing it to the side before he reached for the bottom of her top, pausing for a sign from her. Her breathing was heavy as she reached up, caressing his cheek, and he turned his face into her touch, needing it like he needed to breathe.

Her top joined his on the floor as she moved upward to kiss him, pulling him back down onto the bed with her. The press of her breasts against his chest had him groaning into the kiss, deepening it further, as she raked her nails down his back. He wanted the scrape of them, but held back from asking for her to draw blood. Another time, not yet. 

“As wonderful as I’m sure this deflowering would have been, it's time to leave.” 

They both cried out as Lilith’s voice echoed throughout the room, Nick rolling off Sabrina who moved to hide behind him while trying to clutch for her blanket. 

“Does no one know how to knock anymore?” she demanded, because this was getting ridiculous. 

Lilith simply shrugged and Sabrina tightened the blanket to her chest, while still managing to hold onto Nick. He felt tense beneath her touch as he glared at Lilith. She glanced over at the clock, brow furrowing at the time.

“It’s four in the morning.” Surely her day in Hell didn’t start until actual dawn.

“Yes, and we need to get you ready to meet your subjects. Bath, hair, makeup.” Lilith pursed her lips. “Appropriate outfit.”

Nick slid off the bed and retrieved her pajama top for her. “I can just do the twirly thing and be ready in seconds,” Sabrina pointed out, wanting Nick back near her. He looked ready to attack Lilith and nothing good would come of that.

The Mother of Demons sighed in that way that always meant she was aggravated. “Those outfits of yours might have been darling for high school, Sabrina, but you’re a queen now.” She glanced over at Nick, sparing him a smile that wasn’t at all pleasant. “I’ll give you a moment to say goodbye to Mr. Scratch and then we need to go.”

“With my aunt,” Sabrina reminded, because she wasn’t leaving without Zelda. 

“Of course.” The Spellmans and their ultimatums would be the death of her. “With your aunt.”

She exited the room and Sabrina pulled on her top before scrambling off the bed to stand before Nick. He was glaring at the door and slowly Sabrina reached up to touch his face and direct his attention back to her. “Can you keep looking through my dad’s journals?” she asked, hoping that giving him a task to focus on while she was gone would help. 

Nick pressed his forehead to hers as he placed his hands over top hers. He wanted to teleport them away, to find somewhere in the world to hide away from it all, because he didn’t care about the rest of it. All he cared about was her.

Except that wasn’t exactly true. There were a few others he cared about, but the rest of it could be damned. Hell didn’t deserve her. It couldn’t have her. “Nick,” she breathed out, and it sounded like a plea to him. 

He would do anything for her. Wasn’t that what he had promised himself after everything had gone so completely wrong? “I’ll keep looking at them,” he promised before kissing her again, slowly this time, needing her to know how much he loved her. He hoped that would offer her some support while she was in that place. 

After all, it was her love that had helped him make it through.

He walked down the stairs with her, Salem trotting behind them, and they found Lilith waiting with her aunts in the foyer. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Sabrina murmured as she hugged Hilda, and Nick watched the older witch hug her tightly back. He could see the worry he felt echoed in her expression as she let Sabrina go. 

Lilith teleported away, taking Sabrina and Zelda with her before anything further could be said, and leaving the other three standing and staring at the place they had been. Nick swallowed, not quite sure what to do in that moment. “Right then,” Hilda started. “Let’s get breakfast going, hmm?” 

He looked up, startled when he realized she was talking to him. Hilda reached over, resting a hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be alright,” she assured, though he wasn’t sure if that was for himself or her. “Some breakfast and then we’ll figure out how to make it through the rest of this day.” 

Nick reached down and picked up Salem, holding the familiar close before following Hilda into the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so another bit of what Edward had planned is revealed. I hope you enjoyed the aunties talk and the various Nabrina moments.
> 
> Next chapter, Nick and Hilda deal without Sabrina or Zelda being around, Sabrina handles Hell, Ambrose and Prudence complete their mission, and things are not good for Roz.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

_“Men die. It's practically what they're for.”  
_

Sabrina sucked in a breath as the demon behind her tightened the lace of the corset she’d been put into. “Didn’t these go out of style centuries ago?” she groaned as she held onto the chair in front of her as the laces were tightened some more before finally being tied.

“Such a pity,” Zelda commented from the chair she’d taken up residence in, flipping through one of the books found in the room. “They always did a remarkable job of flattering one’s figure.”

“At the expense of breathing,” Sabrina muttered as the demon finally stepped away from her, her task done. 

“Beauty is pain,” her aunt reminded her and Sabrina rolled her eyes. She’d never liked that term. 

She glanced around the dressing room-- _her_ dressing room--as the two demons that Lilith had picked to dress her continued to work on getting her into the chosen outfit. The golds and reds of the room were a sharp contrast to her own back home, the entire thing larger than just her bedroom, and Sabrina hated how intrigued she was by the opulence of it all. It was beautiful, there was no denying that the fabrics of the dresses and stockings felt soft and inviting beneath her touch, but every last thing in this place was sullied by the fact that Lucifer had chosen it for her. 

Sabrina stepped into the skirt of the black dress, smoothing it down as they secured it behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror, her white hair a halo against the darkness of the rest of her, and she remembered Nick’s words. _And you’re light, Sabrina_. Her stomach twisted, partly because she wasn’t sure he was correct but mostly because thinking of him made her worry about him.

Was he okay? What if he was having another panic attack? Who would be there to help him through it? How was Aunt Hilda? Her aunt had looked so lost when they had teleported away. And Salem. Her familiar hadn’t been happy about being left behind but she’d hoped he could give Nick some comfort. Were her friends okay or was Roz having another episode? And what about Ambrose?

A necklace was placed against her neck, looking like droplets of blood cascading down her chest, and Sabrina pressed her hand against it as the demons moved to pin up her hair. “I want it down,” she told them and they moved back, bowing before exiting the room.

Lilith entered the room, carrying several other books in her hands and set them down on the table beside Zelda. Sabrina heard her talking, but she barely took in any of the woman’s words, her focus still on wondering how the others were doing. How could she help her family and friends if they were in trouble on Earth while she was stuck in Hell?

_I’m here to make sure Hell doesn’t spill out onto earth and cause more problems,_ she reminded herself, but Sabrina knew that there were plenty of problems they could run into that had nothing to do with Hell. Especially Ambrose and Prudence who were searching down that madman.

“Sabrina,” Lilith snapped, and she turned her attention toward the other woman. The Mother of Demons sighed, exasperation practically rolling off of her. “When you’re here you need to pay attention to the matters that are _here_ or this arrangement that we have is not going to work.” 

Sabrina sunk down onto one of the chairs next to her aunt. “I’m listening.” At Zelda’s sharp look she straightened up. Guess there was no slouching, even if she was Queen.

Lilith nodded, motioning to the books she’d laid out for Sabrina to look at. “As I was saying before there are grains of truth in various tellings of Hell, Hades, the Underworld.”

“Like Dante's inferno?” It was one of the books the Fright Club had poured over while trying to figure out how to retrieve Nick.

Another nod. “Different Lords are in charge of certain circles,” Lilith reached over, tapping the map of Hell that was laid out, various names written on certain portions. Sabrina recognized some of them, mainly the Plague Kings and a few others from her lessons at the Academy or conversations with Nick. 

_Nick_. She shook her head, trying to focus on the paper in front of her. The last thing she wanted was to need to be in Hell longer than one day a week. “We’re not looking to change that, are we?” 

“Not yet at least,” Lilith replied as she picked up the tray of makeup and sat down on the other side of Sabrina. “It is a decent power play to keep in your back pocket though. Threatening them or actually punishing them with a demotion does wonders for making them back off.”

“I already told the Plague Kings that threats and backstabbing wasn’t going to earn them any favors,” Sabrina started and Zelda looked up from the book she’d been reading.

“ _When_ did you see the Plague Kings again?” her aunt demanded and Sabrina mentally smacked herself.

“Friday, when Nick and I were on our way to the Academy.” From Zelda’s narrowed eyes, Sabrina knew her aunt had expected to be informed of that. “They just came to try and get me to turn on Lilith and I told them it wasn’t going to work. That I’m not like the Dark Lord and don’t appreciate disloyalty to others.”

Zelda pressed her lips together, giving Sabrina a look that told her they would be discussing this further later, before turning her attention back to the book. “But I meant that,” Sabrina continued as she looked back at Lilith. 

“Back to what we were discussing,” Lilith told her, ignoring her comment. The Dark Lord had said he’d meant several things as well to her and none of that had been true. She wouldn’t be fooled by a Morningstar again. “What do you already know about Hell?”

“It’s Lucifer’s domain. Ambrose is really excited about coming here.” Which she still found to be ridiculous. Witches were exempt from Hell, wasn’t that what Father Blackwood had said? But that man had said several things that weren’t true. “What happens to witches when they die?” 

Because her father was a ghost and there were the ghost children. They had chosen to stay at the Academy but she wasn’t sure that was necessary to stay as a ghost. “We go to the Nether Realm,” Zelda informed her, not looking up from her book. “You’ve heard Ambrose mention it a time or two when he contemplated leaving the mortuary while he was under house arrest.”

“Cause he’d be banished to that place,” Sabrina reminded, which didn’t that mean it was somewhere they wouldn’t want to go?

“Yes, it's not precisely where a young warlock with centuries yet to live would like to spend the rest of his eternity,” Zelda replied with a shrug. “It's not Heaven and it's not Hell. It's ours.”

But it wasn’t hers. Her family would all end up there and she’d be cut off from them forever. Sabrina frowned, digging her nails into her palms to keep her breathing steady. She wouldn’t come undone around Lilith. She needed to steer the conversation to something else, to a topic that she could lose herself in for a little bit.

“Hell is mine now. That means I can change it, doesn’t it?” 

Because she could feel its power all around her, could taste the magic that flowed through her here, and knew that if she willed the castle they were in to change shape that it would do so for her. 

“Change it into what? Your father created Hell,” Lilith reminded, as she handed Sabrina the pieces she’d chosen for her to use. Everything was dark, from the eyeshadow to the mascara but the lipstick would match her necklace. “His own realm where he could toy with the mortals that the False God took so much care in making. They needed their own place to fall after being denied heaven. The fundamentals of that can’t be altered.”

“But I could change it to a place where men don’t get to needlessly abuse power and where backstabbing doesn’t earn you favor, right?” Because that didn’t have to be the case, did it?

“It is Hell,” Lilith pointed out. “And you are the daughter of chaos, Sabrina. The creation of the one who let pride cause his fall.” 

“That doesn’t mean I have to be like him. Otherwise why wasn’t he like the rest of the angels?” He’d been different than the others, right? So couldn’t she be different than him. She was raised as a Spellman, she _was_ a Spellman. 

“Where do you think so many of his lords and lower kings came from, Sabrina?” Lilith asked, nodding back to the map. “They fell too. And they’ll only tolerate so much change.”

“Maybe they should have thought of that before wanting me as queen,” Sabrina murmured. She saw her aunt’s smile at that and felt embolden by the approval. Just because they didn’t like the change she could institute didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. Though Sabrina knew it would take time for any of that to happen. 

“A discussion to further another day,” Lilith replied, flipping to one of the other books. “List of souls that are coming up on their due date. Most will already be dealt with but there are three next week that will need your attention.” She pointed to the names and the dates written beside them. “Either for collection or extension.”

It would be a collection then because Sabrina wasn’t allowing anymore sacrifices to be made in Hell’s name, especially not in order to gain any mortal or witch extended life or power. “What did they do? What did they trade?” 

Because that was how it worked, wasn’t it? Witches gave their souls to the Dark Lord for their power and long life. What had all of these others given the Dark Lord? “Usually they offer up their soul,” Lilith replied as the pages in another book began rapidly flipping. “Though some do offer up sacrificing others for the Dark Lord in return for what they want, blackening their soul beyond recovery.”

The pages stopped flipping and Sabrina realized it was showing her the name of the first person she was supposed to be meeting. She read through the brief entry and swallowed hard. “He gave up his soul so his daughter will wake from her coma.” 

She could feel the color draining from her face at the idea of it. “Yes, the False God didn’t seem interested in answering his prayers so he turned to your father,” Lilith strummed her fingers along the table. “Standard deal. She lives. He dies.”

“But I don’t want to take him from his daughter.” How unfair was that? To suddenly no longer be suffering but to lose your dad. It wasn’t a fate she’d wish on anyone.

“The deal has already been struck, Sabrina,” Lilith began, and Sabrina shook her head and shut the book. 

“I didn’t make it though.” So why did she have to go collect it? “So he can just keep his soul.”

“Then he’ll rot from the inside out,” Lilith told her. “He will become cold, harsh beyond measure, never feeling anything for any around him as his soul struggles to come to where it should be. He will live but he will not love those around him. A sold soul kept from Hell only causes more pain on Earth.”

“That’s a ridiculous system,” Sabrina muttered, pushing the book away from her.

“Be that as it may, you will need to collect it.” Lilith rose, waving in the minion who was standing in the doorway with a stack of papers. The paperwork of Hell never seemed to end.

“And I can choose which circle he goes to? What his torture will be?” Sabrina asked, pleased that Lilith nodded. Good. Then there would be none. She looked at the map, trying to figure out where best to put him, which circle would be the best to endure eternity. But she paused, reminded of another and looked back up at Lilith. “Why did you torture Nick?”

“Your father wasn’t a nice man,” Lilith replied, and Sabrina noted the way she tensed even as she indicated for the minion to give her the papers.

“But Nick wasn’t him.” Nick was innocent. Simply trying to protect her and keep Lucifer at bay.

“No,” Lilith handed her the first of the papers. “But he was the closest I could get. I’ll see to these papers during the week, but you may want to peruse them in order to start learning how matters are catalogued here.”

Sabrina turned her focus to the paper, noting the intake of souls reported for each day and where they had been placed. Lilith stood up to leave, but stopped beside her. “Try to remember, Sabrina. You will outlive them all. Don’t make too many enemies among those who will live out every century with you.” Lilith stared out at the doorway, watching the minion slink away. “It helps to have allies. Something I forgot.”

“Are you my ally?” Sabrina looked up at her and Lilith laid a hand on her shoulder.

“More yours than anyone else’s,” she murmured before exiting the room.

“That would be a no,” Zelda’s voice cut through the silence that had fallen in the room before moving to sit beside her niece. “Now what’s this about changing Hell? Because she is correct. The fundamentals of it cannot be altered, they are needed for the balance of the world, but I also know you, and once you have an idea in your head it's very difficult to dissuade you from it. So tell me and we’ll see what precisely we might be able to accomplish without you causing a needless mess.”

“I don’t know exactly.” There were so many ideas swirling inside of Sabrina’s brain to change, things that confused her and others that intrigued her, but she knew that what she saw in Hell wasn’t what she wanted to rule over. But she had to rule there, the realm wouldn’t let her go. She could sense the claim it had on her and her over it. So couldn’t she at least mold it into something she would be proud to rule?

“Then might I suggest you stop considering what to change and learn how everything works here first?” Zelda suggested as she picked up a stack of the papers to look through as well. “Learn who all of the players are, Sabrina, how they all fit into this intricate puzzle and then decide how to dismantle it and rebuild it into the image that you want. There is nothing inherently wrong with change. Your father managed quite a bit of it as high priest of the Church of Night. But he did it quickly, swiftly and upset many with his new ways.”

There had been several decades of newness, a path the coven had headed down that was a far cry from the one that Blackwood had steered it toward. “And when he died it was all torn down and the old ways put back into place much harsher than before. He didn't consider how those changes affected the others. He simply changed things because he believed it right.”

“But he was right,” Sabrina murmured with so much conviction. 

“Perhaps.” Zelda shrugged. If it had been the right way then he’d gone about doing it in the worst way possible and lost everything in the process, a fate she wouldn’t have her niece experience if she could help it. “But there are far better ways to enact change, Sabrina. Watch and see where the conflicts are here, learn the power plays, and see how you can utilize those to get what it is you truly want.”

Sabrina leaned back against her chair, sighing. “That seems like it'll take forever.”

“All change that lasts usually does,” Zelda pointed out. “You still see time in such a mortal way. Sixteen years is but a drop in our lives, Sabrina. Don’t try to rush this. We both have seen what happens when you do so.”

Tommy. _Nick_. She couldn’t risk anyone else getting hurt because of her plans or lack of planning. 

“You think I can honestly change Hell?” Sabrina asked, watching Zelda look over at her.

“You’re a Spellman, sweetheart. You can do anything you put your mind to.” Sabrina grinned at the reminder. A Spellman. Even down there in Hell where Lucifer’s link to her shone brightest, her aunt was able to bring it back full circle. “Just hopefully without the needless dramatics this time, hmm?”

“Yes, Aunt Zee.” Sabrina laughed at that, forgetting for a moment that they were in Hell. It was just a normal conversation between them. One like so many others they’d had at the kitchen table before she’d headed off to school.

* * *

Salem butted his head into Nick’s arm, seeking out attention as he settled onto the warlock’s lap. Nick acquiesced, stroking Salem’s fur as he leaned back against the pillows and flipped to the next page in the journal. It was no use though, the words blurred together, his mind occupied with worrying about what was happening in Hell. Knowing Zelda was there with Sabrina helped a little, but Nick couldn’t shake the fear of what could be happening.

She was their queen, surely that meant she wouldn’t be harmed, right? 

But he’d heard the way the Plague Kings and others had spoken of and to Lilith. They barely regarded her with anything but contempt. Were they doing the same to Sabrina? Was she being torn down as he had been? 

_No._ He tried to push the images out of his head. Zelda wouldn’t let anyone lay a finger on Sabrina. But Zelda Spellman was only a witch and as formidable as she was, he wasn’t sure she was a match for all of the demon lords of Hell. 

The knock at the bedroom door startled him, Hilda Spellman opening the door with a tray of tea and biscuits only further confused him. He had been so sure that she didn’t like him from the comments she’d made every time he’d come over before and the looks she’d given him. Unlike Zelda, he knew she prefered Harvey. And maybe she was right to do that.

Harvey Kinkle hadn’t lied to Sabrina. He hadn’t followed the Dark Lord’s orders and betrayed her trust. The mortal had been the safe option, the one that would have steered Sabrina away from the path he’d helped her run down. And in the end, even when he’d sacrificed his body and sanity to try and protect her from Lucifer’s plans the Devil had still won. 

Sabrina sat on the throne of Hell. And he wasn’t there to help her.

“I thought some tea might help,” Hilda told him as she set the tray down on the bedside table. “Chamomile. Sabrina always likes that one when she’s fretting.”

“Thank you.” That was what he was supposed to say, wasn’t it? 

Salem moved off of him to move toward Hilda, seeking out some more cuddles which she readily gave. “If you prefer a different kind just let me know and I’ll be sure to stock up on it, alright?”

Nick nodded, not sure how to respond. Hilda reached over and patted his shoulder again before turning around to leave. “And if there’s anything else you like to eat, let me know as well. I’ll add it to the shopping list.”

“Thank you...Ms. Spellman.” That’s what he should call her, right? It was what Sabrina’s friends called her.

Hilda nodded before exiting the room, Salem purring in her arms. Nick slowly picked up the cup of tea she’d made for him and stared down at it. He’d drank tea before of course, but it was different to have it brought to him with such care. Not at all like at the Academy. There were even a few cookies on a plate for him to munch on. They smelled fresh, heat still rising off them. Freshly baked cookies were also a treat he hadn’t had often...if ever. Were they ever available at the Academy or was the memory of them from earlier than then?

Maybe Hilda didn’t hate him anymore? 

He slowly drank the tea, savoring every bit of it as he munched on the cookies, his attention focusing enough to try the journals again. Prudence and Ambrose teleporting into the bedroom broke his concentration though and he spilled the tea. “Shit!”

“Your reflexes need work,” Prudence chided as he muttered a spell to clean the mess up.

“And we need your help,” Ambrose stepped forward, handing Nick a pile of sketches. “These are the demons guarding Father Blackwood. We need you to banish them so that we can get to him.”

“And finally end this.” Prudence’s smile was anything but nice, but her father didn’t deserve any less.

Nick flipped through the sketches, noting who each demon was. He knew most by sight. After all the studying he’d done for binding and conjuring class and his reading up on them for his own personal knowledge he knew a good deal of the upper echelon of Hell’s royalty. These weren’t quite top tier, but they were some heavy hitters. “How does he even have them there?”

Because he was pretty sure they should be in Hell and serving Sabrina.

“Blood bound,” Prudence muttered. Dark magic, one that tied the binder to the demons and them to him. She hoped it was excruciatingly painful when the binding was broken and that her father felt every last inch of it.

“What’s the plan?” Nick asked. He had a feeling that he knew. There was a reason they were seeking him and it probably meant something that they had come today. The sketches weren’t freshly done. The pencil was smudged, the pages crinkled. These had been drawn a day or so ago, which meant they had waited until Sabrina was in Hell.

“You bind them and banish them, cutting off his power boost,” Ambrose started.

“And then we kill every last warlock there with him and then _I_ kill my father,” Prudence finished. “Simple enough.”

It was anything but simple, but it was something useful he could do and Nick wanted desperately to be useful in that moment. Considering all Blackwood had done to the Spellmans and Prudence, to the coven, and no doubt everything he was planning still to do, Nick knew that letting that warlock live a moment longer meant they were all in danger. That _Sabrina_ was in constant danger and that wouldn’t do.

“Alright. Now?” Nick asked as he got up off the bed.

“Preferably yes,” Ambrose replied. “We get this done and we can be back tonight for one of Hilda’s superb dinners. Hopefully pork.”

“I think that was what she was saying we’d be having for dinner.” Nick was pretty sure that was what she’d told him at breakfast. “With mac and something? Cheese?”

“Oh, she must be worried if she’s cooking that comfort food,” Ambrose mused, shaking his head at a memory. “Zelda doesn’t allow it, but Sabrina always wanted it when she was little. I think because the mortals always talked about it.” 

Then Nick thought he’d love it. 

“Can we focus?” Prudence snapped, glaring at the two of them. “I will not lose out on killing that man because you two couldn’t stop prattling nonsense.”

Ambrose bowed to her which only seemed to infuriate Prudence more, but Nick noticed the way her cheeks flushed slightly, a sign she didn’t mind the gesture as much as she wanted them to think. 

“Let’s go,” Nick agreed. Hopefully Hilda wouldn’t mind. The last thing he wanted to do was fall back out of favor with her.

It was a bloodbath right out of the gate, warlocks easily falling at the hands of Ambrose and Prudence as Nick focused on the demons. Each required its own binding spell and its own banishing once he’d unlocked the entanglements tying it to Blackwood and bolstering that man’s power. Nick felt his own power flow through him, tying him back to Sabrina who was down in Hell, in the seat of her power. He let it flow through him, his body and mind worshipping her effortlessly as he worded his spells, each demon exorcised of its bindings and causing the former high priest to cry out in pain with every loss.

It was a high unlike anything he’d ever experienced as he cut through the magic, the patterns he needed to undo coming rapid fire to him. He’d never felt so connected to his powers as he did then, magic flowing through him and out, cutting off Blackwood’s magical batteries as each demon vanished in quick succession. What would it be like to use this much power when she was by his side if simply being connected to her brought out this intensity?

Nick turned, ready to help the other two with killing the warlocks next as they closed in on Blackwood. None of them deserved their pity, he was certain of that. Blackwood only surrounded himself with those who believed as he did, who treated witches as lesser, justifying their vulgar treatment of them. None of them would have made it this far with him if they weren’t the most vile of his brotherhood.

Ambrose sliced into the last of the warlocks as Prudence stepped forward, holding Blackwood in a paralyzing trance. Nick stepped up beside Ambrose, ready to help if Prudence needed it. They watched as the former high priest attempted to say his daughter’s name, to plead for his life, but Prudence was having none of it.

He had treated her as trash, nearly killed her sisters and had killed so many of the coven, _her friends_ \--the only family she had ever known. He had taken her siblings and manipulated her far too many times for her liking. Nothing he said would change her mind.

“Give my regards to the Queen of Hell. I can’t wait for you to see her.” And with that she brought the sword down, slicing off his head. She stepped back and glanced at the two boys. “We’re burning it. All of them. I’m not taking anything to chance.”

Ambrose nodded, wiping at his brow, and Nick noticed the way Prudence stumbled a bit. The two of them looked exhausted, which made sense considering how they had been running on adrenaline and used quite a bit of magic and brute force. Nick felt the opposite though, power rushing through him, tying him back to Sabrina. He could almost feel her, that connection he felt when she willed her strength into him enveloping him as if she was there beside him.

He closed his eyes and simply breathed, relaxing into the feeling before hearing Prudence growl for help. A warlock's work was never done.

* * *

Roz sat with Harvey at Dr. Cerberus', neither of them really touching the food they had ordered. Her mind was a jumbled mess, so many thoughts going through it, and a glance over at Harvey told her that his was pretty much the same. There had been no help at the mines, any attempt to get through the mud and rocks that had blocked the entrance only causing more difficulties. Just thinking about it caused pain at her temples and she swallowed, pushing the thoughts away.

“She’s okay down there, right?” Harvey finally spoke up and Roz stared at him for a long moment, not sure what he meant before remembering what day it was.

Sunday. Sabrina was in Hell.

“It's Sabrina, Harvey. If anyone can handle it down there it’ll be her.” Maybe if she said it with enough conviction she’d believe it as well.

“Yeah,” Harvey struggled for words, trying to convey his worry. “It’s just...”

Roze reached across the table and gave his hand a squeeze. “I know.” Neither of them had been able to shake the coldness that being in Hell had left inside of them.

They looked out the window, watching families walk by on their way to lunch or shopping or some other sort of outing. Usually this was a time when everyone was smiling, waving to their neighbor passed by, but a somberness had fallen on the town. So many of them were tied back to the mines, their livelihoods at risk the longer it was inoperable.

The door chimed as it opened and they looked over, watching Theo walk in. He looked flustered, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he sat down beside Harvey. “Hey, guys.”

They nodded in greeting and Harvey slid the plate of fries toward him. “I’m guessing she’s not going to have cell service down there?” Theo asked as he picked at the fries.

“Think of the charges on that call,” Harvey murmured, causing the other two to laugh for a second before that died off. “But what’s up with you?”

“You know the bugs from the other night?” Theo started and they nodded. Roz felt the pain start again, but she swallowed through it, reaching for her purse to pull out some aspirin. “They destroyed the fields. All the fruit dad would be selling at the farmer’s market just gone. And the chickens are down with something. Maybe the cows too. But Dr. Adams isn’t sure what it is.” 

Images of a bug crawling across the table toward Theo flashed in Roz’s mind and she watched as it devoured her friend before her sight left her again. _Forget_ , the voice flashed in her mind, digging its way down into her psyche and causing the convulsions to start as she pitched forward. Theo and Harvey’s voices were so far away, the sinister laugh echoing in her mind as her body fought what was happening to her.

She felt Harvey’s arms around her and tried to hold onto that, to take strength in his touch, but it wasn’t enough. 

“Sabrina,” she managed to get out before everything went completely black.

* * *

Sabrina could tell that holding court was going to be one of her least favorite tasks. From what she’d seen so far, the lords and ladies of Hell were all like the Plague Kings, each of them putting forth their cases for different desires while insulting one another. It was aggravating and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to handle this for centuries to come. But she listened, working to memorize faces and names as Lilith introduced them, remembering her aunts words from earlier.

_Sabrina_. 

She paused, trying to place the voice. It was familiar but too distorted for her to latch onto. The familiarity of it pulled at her though, the desperation of it causing her heart to clench, but it was gone almost as soon as it started. She blinked, trying to refocus back on the task at hand.

Zelda sat behind her and off to the side, watching everything even as she continued to flip through one of the books from the library. Lilith stood next to the throne, gaining her own share of insults from the various lords and ladies as they asked for their favors.

“If you wish to gain my favor I’d suggest that you stop insulting my regent,” Sabrina interrupted causing all of the demons to stop their movements around the throne room. “I picked Lilith because I trust her.” Well, sort of. She trusted her more than she trusted any of them anyway. “And because I respect her decisions and knowledge of everything and everyone in Hell. Speaking of her the way you do is only lessening my opinion of each of you.”

She noted that Lilith seemed to straighten at her words, standing taller than she had been. Good. There were murmurings from the others in the room, some of their attention toward Lilith turning from contempt to interest while others such as the Plague Kings only looked at her with disgust. Sabrina didn’t think anything would change that group’s thoughts about anyone.

The doors to the throne room opened, causing everyone’s attention to shift that way as demons Sabrina hadn’t seen before entered. Their outfits reminded her of Roman soldiers or at least the representations she’d seen in various films and everyone gave them a wide berth. They carried someone between them, flinging him to the ground in front of the throne. “It is one of the souls that Lilith marked for immediate punishment before your coronation,” one of the soldiers informed her.

Sabrina rose from the throne, trying to get a look at who it could be, eyes widening as Faustus Blackwood looked up at her. If color had still been able to drain from his face she had a feeling it would be in that moment. His eyes widened, his fear pulsing through the room and the demons all around seemed to be drinking it in, feeding off of it. 

“No,” he gasped out, his voice barely audible and Sabrina heard her aunt swallow behind her.

Witches weren’t supposed to go to Hell...wasn’t that what had been said? They were supposed to head to the Nether Realm or had he done something to displease the Dark Lord enough to negate that bit of the witches' deal? She doubted it had anything to do with trying to kill the coven. It didn’t seem like something Lucifer would care much about. 

Lilith leaned toward her. “Your father stripped Blackwood of gaining entry to the Nether Realm when he refused to set up your coronation. He was always petty like that.” Well that answered that. “What circle do you condemn him to, your majesty?”

Sabrina looked back at her aunt, needing to know what she might want. 

Zelda stood tall, her expression impenetrable, but Sabrina knew some of the horrors the man in front of them had enacted upon her aunt--taking away her voice, her freedom, her free will. She’d been nothing but a puppet, seeing everything and unable to do anything to stop him. He’d manipulated Ambrose and tried to have him executed, hurt Prudence more times than Sabrina could count, and tarnished everything her father had tried so hard to build.

She could feel the demons watching her, waiting to see how she dealt with the man. Would she rise to the occasion and win over a few of them? Or would she fail in their eyes? And which did she want to do? It wasn’t about any of them though. It was about her aunt and Prudence, about all of the coven that he had killed, and her father’s legacy that he had tried so hard to destroy.

“Hello, Father Blackwood,” Sabrina greeted as she walked down the steps toward him. She smiled as she stopped in front of him, raising her chin as she looked out at the rest of the demons. They watched her every movement. “There are so many options. The cliffs on Insanity. Maybe burning endlessly in the pits. Or I could just rotate you through everything, let you do a century in each place over and over and over again.”

She liked how he trembled at her words, his fear rising and she could feel Hell urging her on, embracing her words. “Maybe I could turn you into a puppet like you did to so many people I love.” Ambrose. Her aunt Zelda. Most likely countless more than that. 

Sabrina looked around the room, noting the demons watching her and she could see how Blackwood remaining in Hell could ruin everything. He could be used against her if she kept him in Hell. There were so many demons in the room who would love to get their hands on him. They could pull information from him on how best to try and manipulate her. Or knowing Blackwood, he would try to utilize those demons' thirst for power to his own advantage and do more damage to those she loved. 

Hell pushed at her for a decision, images of Limbo flashing before her, giving her an idea.

“But no, you don’t deserve an eternity of anything,” Sabrina started as she motioned for someone to pick Blackwood up so that he would face her. She stopped in front of him, making sure to have eye contact as she continued. “Your name will be forgotten, your legacy destroyed and no one will ever know that you existed. The twins will be raised as Spellmans and Nights, the name Blackwood will never be uttered in their presence or anyone else’s again. Your coven has forsaken you and if you’re here then Prudence and Ambrose destroyed the one you’ve been trying to create.” 

He thrashed against his captors but they held him securely even as she turned away. “I call upon the Soul Eater. I won’t have him blacken Hell any longer than necessary.”

“You can’t do this,” he screamed as the void began to fill the room, causing all of the demons to step backward, none of them wanting to be near the one usually contained to Limbo. They turned their gazes away, none able to look at its presence except for Sabrina who had turned back to watch as it devoured Blackwood. 

This was the thing that had taken Tommy Kinkle, that had hunted her mother and so many others in Limbo, the demon that had terrified her and haunted her dreams for so many countless nights. It bowed to her before disappearing back to its circle, and she realized that any fear that she’d had for it before was gone.

The demons murmured their approval as Sabrina headed up the stairs, noting the nod from Lilith and a look that almost seemed like pride coming from her. She could even feel Hell’s approval with her choice, the pull she constantly felt from the realm seeming to wrap around her like a hug. But it was her aunt that Sabrina focused on and Zelda’s smile as she stared at the place where Blackwood had been that told Sabrina she’d chosen well.

She sat down on the throne and looked over at Lilith. “What’s next?”

* * *

Salem meowed at the bowl before looking up at Hilda. “Didn’t I just give you food?” she asked, shaking her head at the familiar who pawed at the empty bowl before looking over at the seat Sabrina usually took at the kitchen table. “Oh very well. But this is not going to work every Sunday, Salem.”

Though it probably would. She missed her niece and sister as well. The amount of baked goods currently lining the counter and tabletop were proof enough of that. Her attention shifted toward the ceiling, wondering if she should check in on Nicholas again. He hadn’t brought down the tea, though she hoped it had helped settle him some. She would give him a few more minutes before retrieving him to join her and the twins for supper. 

She hadn’t liked Nicholas Scratch at first. Sabrina had been changing after signing the Book of the Beast and Hilda had seen her niece’s attachment to the warlock as a symptom of that. She’d distanced herself from her friends, stopped attending the mortal school and thrown herself headfirst into her witch side. It had troubled Hilda and seeing Nicholas Scratch popping into their house, shirtless half the time, had worried the Heaven out of her. But then everything had happened with the Dark Lord and she’d heard what the boy had said to Sabrina before he sacrificed himself for her and Hilda had realized how wrong she’d judged him.

Even more so now that she’d seen his reaction to Sabrina being gone and heard the telltale signs of panic setting in during the previous nights. He was just a boy, maybe not quite as innocent as Harvey Kinkle, but not the devious little monster she’d believed him to be.

Hilda turned her attention back to the two babies, ensuring that they were happily contained in their bassinets, before setting about to work on some baby food. The sound of someone teleporting into the house had her turning though, eyes widening at the sight of Prudence, Ambrose and Nicholas covered in blood.

“It’s not ours, Auntie,” Ambrose assured her as he dropped his bag onto the table. Prudence was heading toward her siblings, scooping up Leticia first before stroking Judas’ curls. “Blackwood is dead.”

“Some good news finally.” Hilda picked up one of the pies and placed it down on the table. “Though, honestly, all of you should go shower before touching anything.” Blood and guts were just not table appropriate unless she was using them in her recipe.

“I hope Sabrina is giving him the welcome he deserves,” Prudence remarked as she placed Leticia back down.

Hilda noted the way Nick flinched at that before rubbing at his neck to play off the motion. “We can ask her what punishment she doled out on his soul tomorrow,” Ambrose added before picking up one of the cookies.

Hilda flicked him with the towel. “Shower.”

He backed up, holding up both hands before nodding, Prudence following him out of the room to shower. Only Nick hadn’t moved. Hilda reached over, smiling softly as the boy jumped at her touch. “How about I make that macaroni and cheese now, hmm? Then you can tell Sabrina all about your thoughts on it when we see her tomorrow.” 

Nick nodded slowly and Hilda patted his hand. “Go get that shower then and I’ll get started on it.”

Hilda watched him go, filing away to talk to Zelda about what the coven was going to do to help the boy through his trauma. There was only so much their niece would be able to do or Nicholas be able to handle on his own and it seemed that he was a fixture in their house now. They would need to help him to the best of their abilities then, just as they would for any of the Spellmans.

She looked back at the twins and grinned as she clapped her hands. “Well, this family certainly keeps growing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately Nick and Sabrina were separated this entire chapter but they'll see each other briefly again in the next. I hope everyone enjoyed the beginnings of Hilda and Nick bonding, they'll do so even more in the next chapter. 
> 
> There will also be some Roz fallout that leads to truths, Zelda in Hell, some Nabrina, and Sabrina confronting some hard truths.


	11. Chapter 11

_Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong.  
The key is to never stop doing right.  
_

Theo knocked hard on the Spellman door as Harvey carried Roz up the stairs. “Ms. Spellman!!!” he cried out, hoping Hilda would open the door. Dr. Cee had called ahead as they’d carried Roz to Harvey’s truck and then drove directly over. Neither of them had been there during Roz’s first episode and seeing her collapse and seizure as she had terrified the two of them. Theo had been reminded of his Uncle Jesse. Would they lose Roz like they had him?

Hilda appeared moments later, ushering the two of them and the unconscious Roz into the household. Harvey placed her back onto the couch she’d been the other day and stepped back as Hilda went to work. Roz had stopped convulsing but she’d gone completely limp and Harvey hadn’t been sure she was even breathing at first. But she had been, it was just so shallow, her pulse hard to find, and her complection too pale for his liking.

“It happened again?” Nick asked from the doorway before stepping into the room to stand beside Theo.

“Yeah, at the shop,” Theo told him. He crossed his arms, hugging himself tightly as he watched Hilda with Roz. “We were eating and talking. Worried about Sabrina. Roz just started shaking.”

“Her first episode happened when she was talking to you, right?” Nick asked, looking over at Harvey. 

“I was telling her about the mines,” Harvey murmured as he raked a hand through his hair, before pressing it to his mouth. _Come on, Roz._

“What happened this time?” Nick asked, looking at Theo.

“We were just talking about life, you know?” Theo started, shrugging helplessly. “I’d just gotten there and was telling them about how the crops are bad and the animals look like they might not make it much longer.”

Nick’s brow furrowed as he turned his attention back to Roz and noticed the amulet Zedla had given her to wear. “Ms. Spellman,” Nick moved to sit beside her, nodding toward the amulet.

“Oh my,” Hilda murmured as she took in the darkened object. It had been white before. Now it was black and cracked.

“This isn't a demon feeding off her,” Nick continued, trying to speak quietly and Hilda nodded for him to help turn Roz over. 

“What are you doing?” Harvey asked as Nick raised up Roz’s shirt.

The warlock dropped back, scrambling away as the Devil’s claw mark peeked out from the fabric, bloodied and scarred. “Ambrose!” Hilda called out as she maneuvered Roz back to laying down before reaching over to try and calm down Nick who had begun hyperventilating. 

“What’s going on?” Harvey called out, Theo looking around wildly as Sabrina’s cousin entered the room with Prudence at his heels. Harvey pulled at his hair, glancing around the room and back at Rosalind, trying to figure out what had alarmed the two witches. “Can someone please tell us what’s going on?”

“Ambrose, I need you to get Roz up to my bedroom. Prudence, I need you to get asafoetida, jezebel root, and sumac from the greenhouse.” Hilda was focused on Nick as she spoke, getting him to look at her and try to repeat the deep breathing that she was trying. “Theo, go to the kitchen and get a bowl. I’ll also need the bottle of water that’s under the sink. Tucked in the back. Harvey, go upstairs with Ambrose. Roz will want you at her side.”

“Nicholas,” Hilda continued as the others began to move and do their tasks. She took hold of Nick’s hands, feeling the fear that was overpowering him. “He is not here. He cannot get to you. I need you to breathe so that we can help out Roz because you’re the best hope for helping to dig out whatever he’s left behind inside of her until Sabrina returns.”

Nick closed his eyes as he tightened his grip on Hilda’s hands, working to calm himself down. It helped to have a task to focus on. Sabrina would want Roz to be okay and he liked Roz. She was Sabrina’s best friend and had always been nice to him. He could do this. He had to. Slowly he nodded, his breathing closer to normal than it had been.

“That’s a good lad,” Hilda murmured, patting his hand before rising. “Now let’s see if we can figure out what precisely he’s left behind.”

And how. _How_ was the Dark Lord able to do this to Roz from Hell? And why? Though Nick knew the why could be as simple as because he wanted to do so. He was probably reaching out to try and hurt Sabrina’s friends. But they had put him into an endless sleep. He shouldn’t be able to do anything to any of them. 

Nick followed Hilda up to the bedroom, sitting down on the opposite side as Hilda and Ambrose mixed the ingredients before Hilda nodded toward the bottle of water that Theo held. “I need you to pour that in and then continue mixing this until it's the consistency of pudding,” she told Theo as she handed him the bowl. “Prudence light the asafoetida in all four corners of the room.”

“Why can’t we mix it?” Ambrose asked, confused as to why they weren’t continuing. Surely they would do a better job than the mortals.

“It’s Holy water,” Hilda replied as she turned back to Roz.

“Does Auntie Zee know you have Holy water in the house?” Ambrose asked, eyes widening at the very thought of it, as he stepped back. By the cutting look his aunt was giving him he guessed that was a no and that they wouldn’t be telling his other aunt that either.

“Nicholas, I need you to see if you can sense anything...off.” It was the best Hilda could describe it.

“Why would Nicky be able to sense anything of the sort?” Prudence asked as she moved about the room, setting up the offerings to burn.

“Because I know what it feels like to have the Dark Lord inside of you,” Nick muttered as he shifted to be nearer to Roz. He closed his eyes as he raised his hands above her, seeking out that darkness that he’d come to know entirely too intimately. 

It was faint, but he recoiled instantly at the sensation of cold that sought him out as his hands hovered over her head. “There.” 

Considering what Roz was capable of doing it made sense that it would attach to her mind. And that’s what Zelda had said earlier, wasn’t it? That it was her mind that needed healing, not her body. He could feel the panic start rising again and worked to push it down, digging his nails into his palms as he clenched his hands into fists.

“Thank you, Nicholas.” Hilda looked over at Ambrose. “Get him some tea.” The twins started crying from the other room and Prudence excused herself to deal with them as Ambrose left as well. “Theo and Harvey, I need you to coat Rosalind’s face and scalp in that mixture. It will help loosen Lucifer’s grip on her.”

“ _Satan_ is inside of her?” Harvey asked, clutching tightly to Roz’s hand. “But how? He’s in Hell. Right?”

“Yes, but he was here on Earth for a bit as well. All of you were in his presence then,” Hilda reminded, as she moved to let Theo near. “It’s possible he did something at that time. And it's not all of him, a sliver of his presence. Like a shadow. An imprint.”

“Can you get it out of her?” Theo asked as Harvey stroked Roz’s hair. 

“Of course they can,” Harvey murmured as he looked up at the various witches in the room. His heart sunk at how uncertain Hilda looked and Nick was looking away, petting Salem who had made his way into the room. “You can, can’t you? We got him out of you.”

“We needed several witches to do so,” Hilda informed him. “And Sabrina to give everyone a significant power boost.” She didn’t want to bring up how sluggish she had been feeling whenever she used her abilities, how draining simple tasks had become over the last few days. She had chalked it up to exhaustion; all of them were being pulled in various ways that it was bound to catch up with them. But now, seeing Roz in her current state, Hilda wasn’t that certain that simple exhaustion was the answer.

“Sabrina can do it,” Nick told them, his voice unwavering. 

He didn’t know why he believed that with such conviction, but everything inside of him screamed that she would be able to do so. He remembered the Dark Lord’s annoyance when she’d nulled the contract with the one human after being called by Hell to complete her new duties. How the Devil had been surprised that she’d had the ability to do so and she hadn’t been Queen yet then. Now she had the authority of the crown behind her decisions and from everything Satan had bragged about to him when he’d tortured him daily, Sabrina’s powers would only grow once she claimed the throne. 

“She’ll be able to.”

Harvey and Theo nodded, accepting that. After everything else Sabrina had been able to do over the last few months it wouldn’t surprise them for a second if Nick was right. It worried Hilda though. As wonderful as it would be if that was the case, that was entirely too much weight to put on a sixteen year old’s shoulders. Didn’t her niece have to handle enough already?

Ambrose returned with the tea and handed it to Nick. “Drink it,” Hilda ordered as she nodded for Ambrose and him to follow her out of the room. “Your hands are still shaking and it’ll help calm that.”

Nick wasn’t about to argue, especially when just the knowledge of a piece of the Dark Lord so near terrified him to his very core. He balanced Salem in his arms as he drank. He was grateful to be out of the room, to have something else to focus on than what was happening to Roz. There would be no sleep for him that night. Not when Nick knew that doing so would inevitably lead to seeing the Dark Lord once his eyes were closed. 

Sabrina would be back in the morning. It would be okay. It wasn’t as though the imprint could move to anyone else. It was only Roz’ soul that it darkened. Nick glanced at the door to the bedroom Roz was in and took a long sip of the tea. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for being thankful that it wasn’t him this time around.

* * *

Learning a variety of languages over the centuries had certainly come in handy as Zelda perused the various scrolls she’d set out on the table in the library. She could imagine Ambrose’s enthusiasm when he would finally be able to set foot in the room and begin taking in the vast amounts of knowledge. Eventually she could see Sabrina enjoying the room as well, but Zelda understood that the girl was overwhelmed, the enormity of what she had taken on slowly beginning to dawn on her. 

Which was why she’d left Sabrina alone to take a bath and headed to the library to start gathering materials they would need to take a closer look at. Sabrina’s education at the Academy was going to need to take a different slant than the others and Zelda meant to know how best to guide the girl. Lilith’s teachings would be invaluable, but trust once broken wasn’t so easily given again. The Mother of Demons had another agenda and always would and Zelda wasn’t about to let it interfere with Sabrina ever again.

“We’ll be taking these when we leave in the morning,” Zelda informed Lilith who had entered the library, looking surprised to find her in the room. “She’ll only be able to read so much while here one day a week and this way we can keep up her studies on Hell.”

“Those books belong in Hell,” Lilith told her as she sat down across from Zelda, picking up one of the scrolls to see what the witch was looking at. 

“Then I suppose it's a good thing that Hell belongs to Sabrina,” Zelda mused, not bothering to look up at her as she started on another scroll.

Lilith smacked her lips at that, pushing down the rage at how easily she’d been usurped from the throne by the sixteen year old. Though...the girl had defended her in front of the entire throne, something no one had ever done for her before. It unsettled her, left a gaping hole of weakness that she’d slammed viciously shut again after the Dark Lord had fed Adam to her. She couldn’t afford for it to open again. 

“Now, aside from the Plague Kings who are an obvious nuisance, who else do you see causing issues?” Zelda asked, finally looking up at Lilith and setting the scrolls aside.

_Finally_ someone asked a useful question. “Astaroth has been working to secure more power for three centuries,” Lilith informed her. A drop in the ocean of time, but the demon was adamant about gaining more. “He’ll turn on whoever, whenever, in order to do so. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and threaten Sabrina’s loved ones in order to gain what he wants.”

Zelda scoffed, looking down at her nails. “That would bring about his immediate doom.”

“I know,” Lilith’s smile was anything but pleasant. “I look forward to seeing him destroyed.” It would be nice to see a different sort of chaos play out in the realm instead of the standard grapple for power that happened every century or so. “Burith has been seeking to gain ground as well, though after her display with the Soul Eater he might slink off to the shadows again for a century or two. I can make a list of the others and give it to you before you leave in the morning.” There were many demons in Hell who might gripe about this and that but only a few who would work alone or together to try anything.

“Thank you.” Zelda leaned back against her chair, wishing she’d brought some cigarettes along. She’d remember for the next time.

“They wonder why you’re here,” Lilith continued and Zelda shrugged.

“Let them.” It didn’t concern her what the hordes of Hell thought. All that did was Sabrina.

“A witch accompanying the Queen makes them wonder about her true strength. It makes them underestimate her,” Lilith told her and Zelda leaned forward at that, smiling.

“ _Good_.” Underestimating her niece never went well for anyone involved. “So did our Dark Lord and Faustus Blackwood and look what happened to them.” 

Seeing Faustus’ terror as he saw a Spellman sitting on the throne of Hell, doling out his punishment, had been satisfying in ways that Zelda hadn’t known were possible. As much as she’d have enjoyed the man being tortured for an eternity, she also knew that any part of him still existing meant that he would do everything in his power to screw over her family again. There would be no peace for the Spellmans as long as he was around.

Lilith cocked her head to the side at that. She’d underestimated Sabrina countless times herself and seen how the girl managed to win. It was aggravating, though when not being used to foil her plans, Lilith supposed it was almost endearing. _Almost_. 

She paused, mouth open and ready to reply, when she noticed the walls. Streaks of red ran down them, pooling along the floor. Lilith rose and walked toward it, Zelda following close behind as Lilith reached out touching the red substance before tasting it to confirm her suspicions. “Blood.”

“I take it that’s not common?” Zelda arched a brow at the scene, moving to look out at the hallway to see if the same phenomenon was happening. It was.

Lilith frowned, racking her memory for why the scene seemed so familiar to her. It took a moment for her memories to catch up. Eons had passed since anything similar had happened. It had been in those first few weeks after Lucifer had created Hell, back when he still weeped while raging over being cast out of Heaven and having his wings torn from him. Hell hadn’t bled since then. It shook with his fury, trembled when he was denied, and occasionally lightened when he felt some sort of joy, but it didn’t weep any longer.

Until now.

“It's reacting to Sabrina’s emotions.” It was the only explanation that Lilith could come up with.

Zelda didn’t need another answer, leaving the library immediately to head to Sabrina’s rooms. She found her niece in the middle of a giant mess. Dresses were strewn everywhere, shredded beyond repair, the decorative pieces that had lined the walls and pedestals broken, and the mirrors shattered. 

“Sabrina,” Zelda snapped, causing the girl to turn toward her. 

She was sobbing, her makeup smudged beyond repair and the crown somehow still haphazardly on her head. “I don’t want any of it. He chose this. _All_ of this. Every dress, every painting, the bedspread and pillows, and rugs and _I don’t want it_.”

Energy exploded from her, causing the four poster bed to splinter and crack, the chandelier that hung above the girl breaking into pieces and raining down. It melted before ever nearing either of them. 

Sabrina collapsed onto the ground, tearing the crown off of her head and threw it against the wall. Zelda moved forward, catching her into a hug. She remembered feeling similarly with Faustus, the dresses and rooms he’d forced her into after turning her into his own model wife were a mockery to the powerful witch she had worked so hard to become. She chastised herself for not realizing that Sabrina would feel similarly in a room that had been carefully crafted for her by the Dark Lord. 

“I want the blanket Aunt Hilda made me. And _Salem_. I want Ambrose to wake me in the middle of the night to go look at the stars on the roof and tell me about all the wicked things he did when he was little.” Sabrina clung tightly to her aunt, burying her face in her aunt’s neck. “I want to go home.”

The room shook at her words, Hell balking at her calling elsewhere home. “Stop it!” Sabrina shouted, glaring at the room, her voice echoing throughout, and it ceased its movements even as she held on tighter to her aunt. 

“Then we’ll let Lilith know that you want items brought here before next week,” Zelda told her, stroking her niece’s hair as she’d done so many times before when she was younger. It was moments like this that reminded her just how young Sabrina was. She didn’t even have half a century under her belt yet, her Dark Baptism had only been a few months before. She was still a baby in witch years, so young and part of Zelda wanted to wrap her up and keep her away from all of the horrors of the world.

That wasn’t an option though, not with Sabrina being the Queen of Hell. There were responsibilities that couldn’t be shirked, so much for the girl to take on and while Zelda would work to lessen the load, Sabrina also needed to toughen up faster than any of them might have wanted. “But enough of this nonsense, Sabrina. You're causing the walls to bleed and shake and the last thing you want is for the minions running this place to start whispering that Hell doesn’t accept you.”

She pulled back slightly and wiped at the girl’s cheeks. “You’ve managed quite the feat instead of taking that bath that you were supposed to be doing.” 

Sabrina looked away from Zelda. “I was going to but then...the reality of everything sunk in.”

“And you have always been one for theatrics,” Zelda pointed out, smiling at her niece’s pout. She’d perfected that look at quite the young age. It worked wonders on Hilda. Not that she would admit how often it worked on her either. “Now, we’re going to draw you a bath and I’ll have someone come clean this up.”

“At least I can change back into _my_ pajamas,” Sabrina murmured with a sigh.

“Bath,” Zelda told her as she rose, offering Sabrina a hand to pull her up. “Now.”

Sabrina nodded and headed off toward the bathroom, leaving Zelda to survey the damage the girl had managed. It was then that she saw the painting that depicted Sabrina in her coronation dress, the name Sabrina Morningstar etched in gold on the frame. That would have definitely caused such a reaction.

Ah well, at least Hell had minions to deal with the cleanup.

* * *

Terror filled Nick at first when he realized that not only was he dreaming but that he was back in Hell for the dream. It wasn’t a part that he knew, but he felt the horrors of that realm down to the very core of him as he stepped out of the shadows and into the room he’d arrived in. He didn’t want to look around, didn’t want to learn anymore of the secrets of that realm. Was Lucifer behind this as well? Was he reaching out to screw with him all over again?

“Nick?” 

He heard Sabrina’s voice come from behind him and he tensed, not wanting to turn around. Would she be bloodied? Would Lucifer have her strung up and ready to be tortured as he’d seen in countless illusions? Part of him yearned for her though and he turned, needing to see her, even if the happiness he would feel would be brief.

But she was in the pajamas she’d left in, looking confused as she sat up on the bed. “Am I dreaming?” she murmured, looking around the room and Nick recalled how she had visited him nearly every night when he’d been confined to that cell. Could that possibly be what was happening? Was this real?

“Sabrina.” Nick moved toward her, reaching out to take her hand and she felt real, like she had when she’d cradled his face, murmuring that she was going to come for him, that she wouldn’t give up.

Sabrina shifted, pulling him to her and he hugged her tightly, breathing her in. He’d only ever been able to do that when she had been visiting in the dreams before, not when Lucifer had manipulated him. “You’re here,” she breathed out, before pulling back from him. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Not with what this place did to him, how it affected him. “Go home, Nick.” She didn’t want Hell hurting him any more than it already had. 

He caught her before she could move away completely, tugging her back around so he could see her face. Her eyes were still puffy, a sure sign that she had been crying. He brushed at her cheeks with his fingers before pulling her down onto the bed. “It’s a dream, Spellman,” he murmured, pulling at the landscape and working to manipulate it so that they were no longer in Hell. 

They were back in her bedroom and Sabrina relaxed a bit, comforted by the familiarity of him and her home. Somewhere in her consciousness she could feel Hell screaming in anger at her constant pull back toward Earth, but she pushed it down, ignored the way it twisted, trying to drag her back to its depths even in her dream. She’d deal with the fallout of that when she woke.

The two lay together without words, Nick brushing his hand through her hair while she traced pentagrams on his chest. It was almost as if they truly were back in the mortuary, that there was no Hell, nothing keeping them apart. 

“I think your aunt drugged me,” Nick murmured after a few moments. It was the only explanation for how he’d fallen asleep.

Sabrina chuckled, her body shaking slightly against him, and Nick found himself grinning. It might have been the first time he’d smiled since she’d descended to Hell. “It's definitely something she’d do. Everyone thinks Hilda’s sweet and not deadly, but she’s just a lot more quiet about it.”

“Are you okay? They haven’t done anything?” He shifted slightly, moving down so they were laying next to one another and he could see her face.

“I’m fine,” Sabrina assured, pressing a kiss to his knuckle. “I mean I had a moment and destroyed my room but I’m okay.”

Nick arched a brow at that. “Destroyed your room?”

She looked down, her brow furrowed and he reached over, brushing his fingers along the creases. “I don’t want anything that he picked out for me,” Sabrina whispered, her voice so soft that he barely heard it.

He kissed her forehead then, cupping her face in his hand as she rested her hands against his chest. “How are you?” she murmured. 

Nick hesitated, not wanting to burden her further in Hell. “I did some more looking through the journals, but nothing so far.”

Sabrina noted the hesitation though and frowned, searching his face for an idea as to what she was missing. “Nick?” Hadn’t they promised not to keep things from one another.

He sighed, pressing his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes, feeling her fingers against his cheeks. “Roz had another episode. She’s okay, but it's not a demon that’s hurting her.”

“Then what is it?” What else could it possibly be? Hell hummed in the back of her mind, but she pushed it back, desperate to ignore anything it tried to tell her.

“She has the Devil’s mark, Sabrina.” 

Sabrina scrambled up, shaking her head. “No.” Roz couldn’t have that on her. That would mean that the Dark Lord had been able to get near enough to her to put it there. But he was in Hell, not on Earth. He was immobile, trapped. “He shouldn’t be able to get to any of you.” How was she supposed to protect any of them if the Devil was still able to reach them?

“Your aunt thinks he might have done it when you first brought us back home,” Nick told her, reaching out to touch her thigh. She was shaking nearly as bad as he had been after discovering the truth. 

“Are you sure there’s still part of him there?” Sabrina didn’t want it to be true and she searched Nick’s face, looking for even a sliver of uncertainty, but there was none. 

“I felt it.” 

Three little words shouldn’t have been able to rock her world as easily as they did. She closed her eyes at the implications of that before reaching for him. He shuddered against her and Sabrina could practically taste the self-loathing that wafted off of him, dragging Nick down to the depths of darkness that she wanted to help ease him out of. She linked their fingers as she kissed him, trying to convey the goodness she saw in him, to wash away the lingering shadows of Lucifer that tried to cling to him. 

Hell pulled at her though, calling her back and Sabrina knew she didn’t have much longer before it would win out. “I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Sabrina,” Nick started, trying to hold onto her but he could feel the dream slipping, their time together coming to an end. “I love you.”

She opened her mouth to tell him the same but she was gone before the words could be spoken, leaving him alone. Coldness enveloped him at the loss of her. It would have been easy to lose himself in that, to let it seep into his bones, but her touch still lingered, bringing warmth to parts of him and Nick focused on that, letting the light that was intrinsically her seep in instead. 

She was safe. Or well, as safe as she could be in Hell.

He would see her in the morning.

* * *

Sabrina bolted upright in the bed, reaching for Nick and finding her aunt instead. Thankfully Zelda only muttered something in her sleep before turning away from her, not waking. Sabrina blinked, wiping the sleep from her eyes as Hell called to her. It tried to calm her nerves, to ease the way her stomach twisted with being there, and she felt a bit like the fly being tempted by the spider to come just a little closer. Except that wasn’t quite right. 

_Home_ , it echoed in her head and she worked to drown that out, refusing to give into the yearning she felt from the place. Wasn’t it bad enough that she’d been pulled between her witch and mortal sides for so many years? Did she really need to add Hell to the list that wanted a piece of her? Except she knew it didn’t want just a piece. Hell wanted _all_ of her and she couldn’t give that. Her heart belonged elsewhere and always would. It would have to deal with that knowledge.

Quietly she got out of the bed, careful not to disturb her aunt, and headed toward the door, intent on finding Lilith. Lucifer had somehow gotten his claws into Roz and she needed to know how to purge even the tiniest sliver from her friend and make sure that he was secured in Hell. What if he had gotten out? 

Fear tugged at her, wanting to overpower her, to pull her down, but Sabrina pushed it aside. She wouldn’t give into it, not down there where she was certain such an emotion would be easily exploited. “Where’s Lilith?” she asked the first minion she saw in the hallway, pressing her lips together as the lesser demon hurriedly bowed and motioned for her to follow.

They were terrified of her and Sabrina wondered what the Dark Lord had done to them to instill such emotion in them from her mere presence. How hadn’t anyone attempted to take the throne from him? Or maybe they had throughout the centuries. She really had no idea what the history of Hell was like. Had he destroyed each of those who had ever attempted such a feat? Brought them to such ruin that no one else dared to defy in? 

Though the Plague Kings had tried to kill her once and Sabrina couldn’t see that having been something he had authorized. Had they been worried about what the added power of conquering Earth would mean for the rest of them? It didn’t seem to her like Lucifer would ever really share any of it with them. 

“Thank you,” Sabrina murmured as the minion stopped in front of the library, nodding toward the room before slinking away. She spotted the older woman staring out one of the windows down at what lay beyond Pandemonium’s walls. “Lilith.”

She noted the way Lilith tensed at her voice before turning around, her smile tight. “I heard you had quite the episode.”

Sabrina shrugged. Probably all of Hell had heard about what she’d done to her quarters by then. “I may have gotten a little carried away.”

“Much like your father so often did,” Lilith murmured before moving forward to take a seat at the table. 

Sabrina clenched her fists tightly at those words, the energy around her charging at how intensely she hated them. Being compared to Lucifer was the last thing she wanted, _especially_ when anyone said she was anything like him. “It was a nice way to remind the staff not to get too comfortable,” Lilith continued, deliberately poking at her. “They never know when you might snap just as he did.”

She wanted to lash out at Lilith, but Sabrina held back, taking a deep breath to try and center herself. Doing that wouldn’t help Roz and she needed to be certain that Lucifer was still locked in Hell. She couldn’t think of a reason Lilith would have let him go. Sabrina was certain the other woman was more terrified of the Dark Lord than anyone else in the world. 

“I need to see him.”

Lilith stopped smirking at that, staring intently at Sabrina as she tried to ascertain why the girl would have made such a request. “Why?”

“Apparently he did something to Roz. I don’t know if it happened when I had him on Earth or if he’s doing it now somehow. But I need to make sure he’s secured down here.” Because it wouldn’t be good for anyone if he had somehow escaped or if he was able to manipulate him even in the state they’d left him in.

Sabrina could practically feel Lilith’s heartbeat speeding up, could sense the fear that spiked in the room as the woman rose and nodded for her to follow. They headed down the corridor and entered the rooms she’d heard the others refer to as her Father’s, but if going by the portrait of Lilith in the crown that was placed on the wall, Sabrina had a feeling they were Lilith’s now. How she could stand being in the place that Lucifer once resided wasn’t something she could wrap her head around. Maybe Lilith had destroyed all of the old furniture like she had before taking it over.

Lilith waved her hand and part of the wall peeled back, revealing the golem they had placed Lucifer inside of. It had the same energy as Sabrina had picked up from the Devil before and the eternal sleep enchantment seemed to be working. Part of her wanted to wake him, to demand answers, but everything he said was a twisted truth and she had a feeling he’d manipulate the situation more than he already had.

“So he’s not gone.” And that was good. Though it did mean he’d gotten to Roz because she’d brought him up to Earth. “How can I help her?”

Lilith waved her hand, putting the illusion of the wall back up to hide him from anyone else. “You’re Queen of Hell, Sabrina. Whatever he’s enacted you can null.”

“So if there’s a part of him in her I could pull it out and destroy it?” Or did she have to put somewhere else...in someone else? It would be her this time if that’s what was needed. No one else was sacrificing themselves for her. 

Lilith paused, weighing her options, trying to determine which answer would best benefit her. The girl wouldn’t risk putting it into another of her friends which meant she’d put it inside of her own body and that wouldn’t do at all. Having him locked away in Hell was one thing, but having him active and locked away in the current Queen was a headache that Lilith didn’t want to try and handle. 

“Draw it out, Sabrina, and then use that will of yours to blot it from existence.” One day, hopefully the girl would be able to do the same to the rest of the Dark Lord, but that required a strength of will and commitment to Hell that Lilith knew Sabrina lacked.

“I can do that?” Sabrina stared at the wall, seeing it for the illusion that it was, just as she spotted several more around the room, including one that led to a door that seemed to be calling for her. She pushed down the urge to explore further, doubting that Lilith would appreciate her doing so. Plus she had far more important things to focus on. Mainly Roz.

“You have barely tapped into everything that you can do.” Lilith motioned for her to follow her out of the room and nodded in the direction of her own. “I take it that I don’t need to lead you back, hmm?”

“I’m good.” Sabrina turned to go, but paused. “I want new furniture in my rooms before I come back next week. I don’t want anything in there that he wanted for me.”

Lilith nodded. “I’ll see to it.”

“Thanks.” Sabrina headed off, rubbing at her arms as she walked down the hallway. Lilith’s words echoed in her head. _You have barely tapped into everything that you can do._ Exactly what else could she do now? And did she have to be in Hell to meet her full potential? 

She turned away from the path that led toward her bedroom and pushed open the door that led out to one of the palace’s balconies. Heat enveloped her as soon as she stepped outside, the wails of mortals out in the sea of chaos echoing in her ears. She didn’t try to see them as she sat down on the floor, but she continued to hear their pain. How was she supposed to look at her friends and everyone she’d grown up with in Greendale and know that there was always the possibility that they would end up here? 

One didn’t have to sell their soul to the Devil to end up in Hell. There were so many other ways to end up there instead of Heaven. 

What was she supposed to do if Roz or Theo or Harvey ended up down there? 

And her aunties and Ambrose, Nick...eventually they would all die and go to the Nether Realm and she would never see them again. Eternity had used to seem so far away, a hundred years in the future something too vast for her to even comprehend, but sitting in Hell and feeling the age of it all around her, the certainty of forever etched into her bones had made it all too real. 

Panic tried to take hold, tears wanted to win out again, but Sabrina breathed through them, forcing her body to remain calm and push down the overwhelming urge to scream. She looked up into the vast darkness instead. There were no stars here, nothing but a vast expanse of black with the occasional shifting greenish blue flames of Hellfire shooting up into the sky. 

Sabrina remembered gazing up at the sky with Ambrose while they sat on the mortuary roof, him telling her all about the Greek and Roman stories behind each constellation that they could see. How many times had she fallen asleep against him while up there? 

Slowly balls of Hellfire rose into the air, placing themselves up into the vast dark and mimicking the images she’d been thinking about. Sabrina frowned, not sure she liked how Hell altered for her, attempting to make itself in her image, to be welcoming. 

Sighing, she rose, and headed back inside. Her feet felt cold against the tiles and she made a mental note to bring slippers next week. And a robe, because running around Pandemonium in her floral pajamas was probably not the best look. 

Sabrina doubted that she would manage to get anymore sleep and veered off again from heading toward her bedroom where her aunt slept, moving in the direction of the library again, thankful that Lilith hadn’t returned to it. Might as well start reading up on Hell’s history and the different players in the never ending game she’d become part of. 

As she looked out at the expanse of books her aunt and Lilith had set aside for her, Sabrina realized something was going to have to give when she arrived back on Earth. Between her witch studies and Hell’s duties to trying to figure out her father’s plans, to Nick and her family and to school with her friends...she knew she couldn’t do it all. She just needed to figure out which part she was going to need to let go of.

“I’m surprised to find you in here.” Her aunt’s voice broke through the silence of the room and Sabrina looked up from the scroll she’d been reading. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Apparently it's not a demon that’s hurting Roz,” Sabrina started before explaining what she had learned. 

Zelda shrugged, flipping through the scrolls to place the ones she thought Sabrina needed to focus on at the top. “There were bound to be consequences of you freeing Nicholas from this place.” 

“I couldn’t leave him to be tortured,” Sabrina protested and Zelda held up a hand.

“Sometimes, Sabrina, you can do everything right and things will still work out badly.” It was a truth that many tried to deny.

“That’s so unfair.” Sabrina frowned, pressing her lips together in annoyance.

“The world is hardly a fair place,” Zelda reminded and silence fell between them at the truth to her words.

‘I think I need to give up school,” Sabrina murmured after a bit, sighing softly as Zelda watched her, waiting for her to elaborate before commenting. “I mean Baxter High. Between my Hellish duties and learning everything about it and the coven and just our family and Nick and trying to figure out what my father’s plans were...something has to give.”

Zelda reached over, brushing back Sabrina’s hair, surprising Sabrina with the utter look of pride being directed her way. “What?”

“It's always remarkable to see when the child you raised begins to become the young woman you knew she could always be.” Zelda rose and handed Sabrina the scrolls. “I think you should be able to go through these before it's time for us to leave. I’ll put together the ones to bring back with us so you can continue your studies while we’re home.”

“Thanks, Auntie.” 

The future was a terrifying unknown, but at least she had her family in her corner to help her make it through today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realizing you can't do everything or have everything that you want is really difficult to face. Whether or not that sticks remains to be seen, buts its a hard realization.
> 
> But I hope everyone enjoyed the Nick and Hilda, Zelda and Sabrina and Nabrina moments in this one. We're back in Greendale next with Roz getting some help, Spellman family interaction, some more Nabrina, and then the Dark Lord as well. Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

_Once, there was a girl who vowed she would save everyone in the world, but forgot herself.  
_

Sabrina headed straight to her Aunt Hilda’s bedroom after arriving in the Mortuary with Zelda. Theo and Harvey had taken up residence in the room, Harvey sitting on the bed beside the sleeping Roz and Theo sitting on the floor. She noted that Nick was in the corner, Salem in his lap and butting his head for more petting, with her aunt staring out the window.

“How is she?” she asked, causing all of them but Rosalind to move.

“Sabrina!” Theo started, rising from his spot on the floor.

“Can you help her?” Harvey was up as well, motioning toward their friend.

“Oh my love,” her aunt turned, sighing with relief at the sight of her.

“Everything is a mess,” Theo continued.

It was a chaos of greetings, but she ignored all of them and moved to her best friend. Roz was paler than she had been the other time, her lips twisted in pain even as she slept, and Sabrina frowned as she picked up her friend’s hand, giving it a squeeze. _I’m here. I’ve got you._ The others were still talking, trying to tell her what had happened, to fill her in on everything that had been done, but she barely heard them as she closed her eyes and tried to locate the sliver of Satan that resided inside.

_There._

It called to her, a tangled piece of light that matched her own celestial blood, and she internally screamed at herself for not noticing it before. _I’m sorry,_ she thought as she looked back at Roz. _I should have figured this out sooner._

“She’s stable, in a deep sleep at the moment. I can’t say what might be going on in that head of hers though, love,” Hilda told her as she touched Sabrina’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Not knowing what was going on inside of Roz’s head was a terrifying thought, one that sent shivers down Sabrina’s spine. She knew a little of what he’d managed to do to Nick. Was he hurting her friend in a similar fashion? Would it not be as bad because it wasn’t all of him, because he would have only been in her for a few days instead of weeks?

“Everyone out,” Sabrina ordered, not looking at anyone, knowing they would begin protesting that.

“Sabrina, we’re not leaving you to do this alone,” Harvey started, and she shook her head.

“I’m not risking it somehow getting into one of you before I can destroy it,” she told them as she looked behind her, seeing all of them pause at that. “Please go.” 

“You heard her, _out_ ,” Zelda snapped from the doorway. 

Everyone but Nick followed her orders, but he stopped beside Sabrina. “Do you know how to get it out?”

She glanced over at him, pleased to see that he held Salem, that they both looked as okay as they could be in that moment. “I…” No. Not really. She had an idea for how to do it, but her conjuring skills were not as good as his or Ambrose’s, but she didn’t want to risk him. Not again. “I can do it.” 

Nick frowned, knowing that was a lie, and placed Salem down on the floor, letting him slink out of the room as Zelda closed the door. “Nice try, Spellman.” He was already drawing symbols in the air as he started murmuring his spell, but she caught his hand, stilling his movements.

“Nick.” 

“Let me help.” He reminded her of that moment in her bedroom after she’d learned about all of the lies, the desperation to prove himself to her etched tightly into every muscle in his body. She didn’t think he was trying to prove himself to her this time around though. 

She was ready to tell him no, to insist he leave as well, but what if she messed up pulling the sliver out? How much would Roz suffer because she wasn’t skilled enough? Sabrina swallowed, slowly nodding. “Get it out and then you go, okay? I don’t want him back in you.”

“Neither do I.” Nick turned his attention back to Roz, starting the incantation again. Sabrina readied to try and help or deflect what might come out, her attention focused on what Nick was doing. His muscles tightened, face contorted in pain with the strain of magic that he was using as he repeated the incantation and movements with his hand.

Sabrina sucked in a breath as she felt the familiar tug at her own power, drawing from the endless resource that seemed to encompass her now. She realized it was Nick doing so again and let it flow freely, bolstering him. It reflected back to her, her own energy seeming to multiply with him there.

One last pull and he yanked the sliver of Satan out. 

It lunged for him, seeking out the host it knew all too well. “ _Go,_ ,” Sabrina told him as she held up her hands, catching it in a ball of Hellfire. 

Nick didn’t hesitate, heading out to join the others as she concentrated on the shadow. It fought against the barrier she had it inside of, demanding release, but her will was stronger. It wasn’t allowed inside of anyone else that she knew. She wouldn’t allow it. The tug of being pulled into another’s mind grabbed at her though, pulling her briefly away from the room.

“Hello, daughter.”

She froze at the sound of his voice and turned, spotting the shadowy figure of Lucifer seeping out of the Hellfire to manifest beside her and gaze down at Rosalind. “Such an interesting mind in that one. Not as fun as your dear warlock’s of course, but entertaining enough.”

It wasn’t him, not really, just a leftover of the piece he’d left behind, and Sabrina had a feeling this was deliberate, that he’d wanted her to find him there so this moment could happen between them. She glared at him, feeling her anger rise up, hating that he’d used Rosalind to get to her. 

“Yes, there it is,” Lucifer grinned, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “That rage I know you have inside of you, that harkens back to me.”

“I get it from my _Aunts_ ,” Sabrina snapped. “The only thing I inherited from you was a crown and I am going to destroy the legacy that you left me.”

His shadow self didn’t like that, eyes narrowed and features twisting between his angelic and demonic form. “I am _not_ your daughter and you are _nothing_ to me,” she continued, and did as Lilith had told her, blotting the piece of him out of existence. 

Pain lashed through her as she did so, causing her to double over from it, but Sabrina forced herself to breathe, not wanting to alert anyone to the consequence of her actions. Every nerve ending in her body seemed to light on fire, and she pressed her hands against the floor, clawing at the wood as tears welled up in her eyes. She could feel Hell screaming out at what she’d done, trying to draw her back to it, but Sabrina ignored the call and closed her eyes until the sensation passed. 

She heard Roz starting to move around and gritted her teeth as she made her features appear normal. 

“Brina?”

Sabrina moved to sit by her friend, hugging her tightly as Roz sat up. _I’m so sorry_. This was all her fault. First Nick and now Rosalind. How long until he came after her aunties and Ambrose? Or Theo and Harvey? Simply being locked away in Hell wasn’t enough. She needed to kill the Devil. None of them would truly be safe until she did so.

And if that meant she’d never be able to leave her Hellish duties...that would be okay. As long as they were safe.

“I called for you,” Roz told her, and Sabrina blinked, remembering how she’d heard her name back in Hell. 

“I’m so sorry, Roz,” she started but her friend was already shaking her head.

“It’s not your fault, Brina,” Roz was adamant about that and she made sure to catch Sabrina’s gaze with her own, needing to know that her friend understood that she didn’t blame her for any of it.

“If it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t be going after any of you,” Sabrina murmured, hating that everyone she loved had a target on their backs because of her.

“I don’t know about that. He is the Devil. That’s kind of his job,” Roz pointed out, trying to get a laugh out of her friend but it did the opposite, causing Sabrina’s heart to sink.

“Since I’m Queen does that mean it's my job now?” There were so many questions she didn’t have the answers to yet.

Rosalind sat back at that, searching Sabrina’s face and seeing the uncertainty there. “I think that’s only a question that you can answer.”

“I don’t want it to be.” And she meant that. 

“Then it isn’t,” Roz squeezed her hand. “But I do think Hell is needed. Not everyone in the world is good.” Being the daughter of a Preacher she’d heard a lot about Hell and Heaven, the rhetoric of her father’s teachings having been drilled into her since she was young. Actually going to Hell had been eye opening and while she hadn’t had time to process having a piece of the actual _Devil_ inside of her yet, Roz knew it was another added layer to the reality that she had to try and comprehend. “There is a reason for that place.”

“Yeah.” That was true. There was definite evil in the world. She’d seen it before with the one man who willingly sacrificed others to live longer. “But not everyone who’s there deserves Hell either.” She thought of the man who’d signed away his soul for his daughter to live, the one she had to collect soon.

Roz opened her mouth to reply to that, but the bedroom door opened, Theo and Harvey pushing to get inside. “Hey guys,” she greeted, getting enveloped in a hug by Harvey. Theo and Sabrina joined in and for a moment it was almost like before the world had turned on its head. It was just the four of them hugging one another. 

Except they weren’t hanging out at Cerberus’, debating the latest horror flick, or laughing about some ridiculous homework assignment. They had all grown so much since those days and Sabrina pulled back, slipping from the room to leave the three to have their own moment together.

She was pulled into her own tight hug by her Hilda as soon as she stepped into the hallway. “I’ve already made your favorite breakfast,” her aunt murmured against her hair and Sabrina clung tightly to her, breathing in the sweetness that was her aunt. 

“Oh for Hell’s sake,” Zelda muttered. “We were gone twenty-four hours.” 

Sabrina laughed against her aunt’s shoulder, feeling her glare at Zelda before letting go. Ambrose pulled her into a side hug and ruffled her hair before following the aunts down the stairs. Nick stood in the hallway and Sabrina closed the distance between them as quick as she could, clutching desperately for him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. 

“Hey,” he murmured in greeting and she smiled as she closed her eyes, taking in the comfort of being there with him. 

“Hey,” she whispered back, pulling away slightly to get a good look at him. “There’s like a million things to do, but what do you say after breakfast we play hooky for the rest of the day?”

Nick arched a brow, not familiar with the term. “Just you and me,” she explained, looping her arms around his neck as his hands settled on her hips. “No Hell. No journals. We’ll just go for a long or walk or something.” 

“I’m in.” He rested his forehead against hers, needing to feel her, to be able to touch her. They could hear her friends chatting in the room and her family moving around downstairs but they stayed in the hallway, neither quite ready to move away from the other.

“Hey, Brina, we’re gonna get Roz home,” Theo started from the doorway and Sabrina let go of Nick, turning back to her friends and hugged them goodbye. She needed to tell them about school but that could wait. 

“I’m going to call you later, okay?” Sabrina asked Roz, thankful that she looked more like her usual self. 

“Before nine. You know how my dad gets on a school night,” Roz waved at Nick who nodded back at her. “Thanks for the help.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Nick replied, knowing that it wasn’t quite the right statement. No one was okay after having Satan inside of them. 

Harvey just nodded, looking to help Roz down the stairs, but she shook her head. “I can walk just fine,” she protested, though she took his hand and followed him and Theo down.

“How did you do it?” Nick asked once the others were out of earshot. 

“I blotted it out of existence.” Sabrina winced, remembering the pain of it. 

He reached over, touching her arm. “What?”

“It...it hurt.” Sabrina shrugged, trying not to make much of it. “But it’s okay. I’m okay.”

Nick frowned at the revelation, stroking his thumb against her cheek, and tucking that bit of knowledge away. 

Salem yowled below, demanding to be picked up as Ambrose’s voice echoed from below. “I will eat all of these pancakes if you don’t hurry up, cousin!”

Sabrina laughed and scooped up Salem, cuddling him close as Nick wrapped an arm around her waist, the two of them heading down the stairs together and then into the kitchen to join the others. 

Ambrose passed the stack of pancakes around while Hilda set out the fruit salad she’d made to go with it. Zelda had already settled into her usual seat, newspaper and cigarette in hand while Prudence attempted to feed her siblings.

_Home_. 

Nothing that Hell tried to do could ever replicate this feeling.

* * *

Zelda surveyed the group in the kitchen as she placed her fork and knife on top of her plate. The noise and chaos when the entire coven had been present had been stifling, negating the calming nature that home had so often represented. 

It wasn’t as though they weren’t used to noise. Between Ambrose and Sabrina’s antics there had rarely ever been a quiet moment, but it was different with family. Their noise meant they were alive and thriving and the addition of the twins under the roof as well as Nicholas only added to the cacophony of sounds that were becoming familiar.

Prudence was an unknown element, one that Zelda welcomed to stay, but she wasn’t sure what the girl would do. Her sisters were at the Academy and her vengeance had been accomplished. It remained to be seen which path she would walk down now.

As lovely as it might have been to let them all fall back into some semblance of normality there were tasks that needed to be doled out and routines to get back to. “Now that we’ve finished eating it's time for a chat,” Zelda started, the dishes floating toward the sink to be dealt with later.

Ambrose dropped back against his chair, head falling back as he groaned, while her sister sighed beside her. “Aren’t we supposed to be celebrating your return?” her nephew pointed out, waving between her and Sabrina, who looked as though she agreed with her cousin.

Zelda arched a brow at them, shaking her head. “We were gone for twenty-four hours,” she reminded, echoing her words from less than an hour ago. 

“Which seemed like a lifetime,” Hilda replied, sighing again as she reached across the table to pat Sabrina’s hand.

“Was he there? My father?” Prudence asked, sitting up a little straighter at the idea of it.

“Yeah, apparently the Dark Lord had revoked Father Blackwood’s right to the Nether Realm,” Sabrina informed them as she placed her hand on Nick’s shoulder, sensing how he’d tensed at Prudence’s question.

“What torture did you dole out?” the girl asked, needing to know how he was suffering.

Sabrina squeezed Nick’s shoulder as his muscles tightened. “I fed him to the soul eater.” 

“You can do that?” Ambrose asked, leaning forward again as Hilda rose, fiddling with some of the trays of leftovers.

She shrugged, thankful that Zelda replied. “While it would have been wonderful to know Faustus was being tortured for centuries there, politically it was the smarter move. We all know he would have worked to plot revenge against all of us even from the depths of Hell. Or he could have been easily exploited by the various demons plottings against Sabrina.” She lit another cigarette and took a long drag from it. “Wiping him from existence was the only answer.”

None of them could deny the truth to her words. Faustus Blackwood would have continued to be a thorn in their sides if he’d been able. His hatred of the Spellmans ran that deep.

“How did you guys get him anyway?” Sabrina asked, wanting to steer the conversation away from Hell and to their accomplishments.

“He had a bunch of demons blood bound to him, which made it trickier than it would have been,” Ambrose explained, not quite looking at her as he reached over, moving the salt and pepper shakers around.

“It was a bloodbath, not a single one of the warlocks who allied themselves with him made it out alive,” Prudence smiled at the memory of it. “And he _begged_ as best he could for his life.” Which had been the most satisfying part. 

“That would have been quite the sight to see.” Zelda took another long drag before smiling at the thought of Faustus Blackwood begging for his life.

“We couldn’t have done it without Nicky,” Prudence continued and Sabrina glanced around the table before looking over at Nick.

“What?” This definitely hadn’t come up in their brief conversation the other night.

“They needed help and it was good to be useful,” Nick told her, noting the way she was glaring at Ambrose and how he was staring at the ceiling. “I wanted to help, Sabrina. I _needed_ to.” He clasped his hand over top the one she had on his shoulder, giving it a little squeeze, and was thankful that she relaxed a bit at his words. Even if she still pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at Ambrose when he finally looked over at her.

_Watching you,_ she mouthed, glaring at the kiss her cousin blew her.

“I had the minion put the scrolls and books in the study for you, Sabrina,” Zelda stated, causing everyone to turn their attention toward her. “We’ll want to carve out a time in your schedule to be able to study them.”

Ambrose looked between her and Sabrina, mouth dropping open as his enthusiasm grew. “There are infernal books from Hell? Here? In our house?”

“Yes, we thought it best if Sabrina brought them back to keep up her reading,” Zelda shrugged, flicking ash into the tray. “There’s only so much she can do in a day there while also presiding over court.”

“You presided over the court?” Ambrose leaned forward. 

“What was that like?” Prudence added, trying to not look too interested even as she leaned forward as well. 

Nick dropped his hand, the talk of Hell making his stomach turn. At one point he would have been as curious as the rest of them. Hell had been a sacred place, one that witches never saw but revered because the Dark Lord presided over it. Everything was twisted now though; what was once sacred to him had become the source of his nightmares. Except for the girl beside him. She was still as fearless as he’d first determined her to be, an anchor that he’d never known he’d needed. 

Sabrina dropped her hand from his shoulder, moving to catch his hand with hers instead, entwining their fingers. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh come on,” Ambrose replied, pouting.

“If she doesn’t want to,” Hilda started, tsking at him and rolling her eyes when he directed his pout at her.

“Demons are annoying and all they do is bicker,” Sabrina shrugged. “It's really not that glamorous.” 

Ambrose nodded. “Yes, I can see how living in your very own palace would _not_ be glamorous.”

“She did destroy her rooms,” Zelda mused and Sabrina sighed at that.

“You destroyed ancient rooms of Hell?” Ambrose stared at her, eyes wide at the very idea of it. “Ones that have withstood milenia, Sabrina.”

It was Nick’s turn to squeeze her hand then as she rolled her eyes at her cousin’s theatrics. “I made stars too.”

“I’m sorry what?” Ambrose asked, not quite sure he’d heard her correctly. All of them were staring at her then, needing an explanation.

She wouldn’t look at any of them as she recalled the moment. “In the sky down there. I missed them so...it made me some.” Even now she could feel it tugging at her to return, but it was easy to ignore it when she was surrounded by all of them. 

Silence fell over the table at that, all of them taking a moment to contemplate the meaning of such an act. Sabrina was thankful that it was Zelda who spoke first, even if she didn’t like that it was about her new schedule. “Back to the matters at hand, we’re going to alter your studies to help catch you up on the workings of Hell. Most witches don’t start learning about the hierarchy of Hell or the various political aspects of it for another decade or two, but well, you were never one to do anything as tradition warrants.”

“It's the Spellman in me,” Sabrina quipped, earning a grin from Ambrose. 

“I can help with the history of it,” Ambrose offered. He’d learned quite a bit about it while under Crowley’s tutelage and then throughout the decades of house arrest. 

“Wonderful,” Zelda agreed. “I’ll work with you on the political atmosphere, bolster your techniques for handling the various issues that may arise.”

“I can help with demonology,” Nick spoke up and Sabrina looked over at him. 

“Nick, you don’t have to,” she started, not wanting to involve him in anything Hell, but he was shaking his head, adamant that he wanted to help.

He turned toward her, needing her to look at him, to see that he wasn’t trembling in this moment. Her safety was paramount, especially to him. “Sabrina, becoming the best conjurer since your father required researching and learning everything I could about Hell’s demons. If anyone is qualified to help you with that, it's me. And I’ve studied your father’s ideas on how to handle them, his theory for different methods of conjuring and binding them.” 

Sabrina slowly nodded. “Okay.” 

“Those are just theories, Nicholas,” Zelda replied. She had been on board with his idea until he’d mentioned those. “Theories that he did not always get around to seeing out the truth of.”

“I have,” Nick told them, shrugging as Zelda and Hilda both looked at him, astonished. “I’ve managed a number of them. Not all because there were some journals I couldn’t get access to.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” Zelda arched a brow at that. She’d known Nicholas Scratch was brilliant in his area of expertise, that he was hailed as being as good as her brother in that regard, but he was so young. It had taken Edward centuries to perfect his gifts.

“Father Blackwood barely wanted anyone to have a look at the journals. Can you imagine what he would have done if he found out I was attempting some of Edward Spellman’s teachings?” He never would have gotten access to the journals again. It had been hard enough convincing the former High Priest to let him read them in the first place. 

Zelda strummed her fingers against the table as she took that in. “We’re going to continue this discussion later. I want to know which you’ve attempted.” 

“Same,” Ambrose murmured, raising his hand. “He tried teaching me a few before I was put under house arrest but I couldn’t quite get them right.”

“He did?” Hilda asked, glancing at Zelda, seeing the same confusion on her sister’s face.

“Back in England a few times when he visited,” Ambrose revealed and Sabrina glanced around at all of them.

Exactly how many secrets had her father kept?

“Lovely.” Zelda sighed, the beginnings of a headache biting at her temples. “Ambrose and Nicholas can work with Sabrina in the mornings before lunch. Utilize the texts we’ve brought back as well. I’m certain they have some information we haven’t been privy to.” She looked over at Sabrina. “And I’ll see to your studies in the afternoon. We can meet the Academy for an hour or so before you join the others in your spell work.”

“I’ll need an afternoon or two off so that I can...you know.” _Collect souls_. Sabrina didn’t want to say it outloud.

“Of course.” Zelda nodded. “On those afternoons you’ll be excused from your spell work. Though I expect you to keep up with the curriculum outside of school hours.”

That wasn’t surprising at all. “Yes, Auntie.” 

“What about school?” Hilda asked as she mentally reviewed the schedule. “At Baxter High. With your friends?” 

“I have to cut something, Auntie,” Sabrina murmured, hating how Hilda looked so worried at the idea of it. Her stomach flipped at the thought of it. Mortal school had been a tie to her mother, one that Sabrina hated to give up, but she had other ties to Diana, one’s that she would figure out how to embrace.

“But you love school,” Hilda reminded, ignoring her sister’s glare. “And your friends. I thought you wanted to graduate?”

“I’m not cutting out my friends.” She had done that before when she’d tried embracing her witch side completely and it hadn’t worked out. “This way I’ll actually be able to do things with them outside of it. Instead of flunking classes because I’m not doing projects or homework and my focus is elsewhere the whole time. I’m not leaving them behind, Auntie. I’m making it so I actually can spend time with them.” 

Hilda shook her head as the twins started to fuss. “I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I,” Sabrina murmured, thankful for the interruption. But she couldn’t have everything. Especially not when the world literally rested on her shoulders.

It was still a hard realization to come to.

“Enough of that,” Zelda cut in, eyeing Hilda who pressed her lips together. “We all have duties to attend to.”

“Speaking of duties,” Prudence started as everyone began to rise. “We need to discuss the twins.”

“What about them?” Zelda asked, looking over at the infants that Ambrose and Prudence held as she sat back down, the others following suit.

“I think it's best for them if they’re adopted out,” Prudence smiled down at Leticia, stroking the baby's hair. “Our coven is so small and you’ve done an amazing job with them, Sister Spellman, but they need someone who can give them their full attention. And that’s none of us.”

“Prudence,” Zelda started, but the witch shook her head.

“You have the coven, the academy, and Sabrina to worry about,” Prudence stared at Zelda, daring her to disagree with her assessment, but she couldn’t. “I have my sisters and the coven as well.” She glanced over at Ambrose. “We met a witch family when we were in Italy. Part of the Church of Infernal Damnation.”

“A more progressive coven,” Ambrose pointed out as he made a face at Judas.

“I think they’ll do well there,” Prudence continued and Zelda reached over, brushing her fingers along the baby’s cheek.

“Are you certain of this?” Zelda asked, watching Prudence nod, adamant in her belief.

“It's what’s best for them.” Prudence looked back at Zelda. “They won’t have the shadow of Father’s mistakes over them their entire lives.”

“Very well,” Zelda stood, her features unreadable. “That’s settled. No point in sitting around when we all have matters to attend to. You are all in charge of the dishes.” She glanced over at her sister, nodding toward the doorway. “Hilda.”

Hilda followed her out of the kitchen, leaving the younger witches to handle the mess. “Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Ambrose murmured as he rose. “Since we’re handling the twins, you two get the dishes.”

Prudence smirked at them, following Ambrose out of the room. 

“We’ll get you back for this,” Sabrina called after them, scrunching her nose at Ambrose’s ‘yes, your Majesty!’.

“Come on, Spellman,” Nick tugged her to her feet as he rose. “Let’s get this over with and then we can go for that walk.”

* * *

Sabrina stared up at the bits of sky peeking through the treetops as she lay on the blanket. She turned slightly, pressing up against Nick who was sprawled out beside her, his expression set to a scowl. Reaching over she traced her fingers against his mouth, smiling slightly when he caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it. 

“So you tried out some of my dad’s ideas?” she asked as she scooted, wanting to be able to look at him better.

Nick shifted to his side, brushing a strand of her hair from her face. “You know I tried figuring out the acheron configuration for a while. But yeah, there’s a lot of different theories in the journals on banishing demons, summoning them, different ways to bind them to you or others. How best to utilize them in rituals. He had a lot of radical ideas but they’re sound in theory.”

“What’s so different from what the Academy would have taught and what he wanted to do?” She didn’t really have any idea. Father Blackwood had purposefully kept her out of any of the more challenging classes. 

“For one, the level of the demon. They don’t want anyone going past pretty lower tier ones, even once you’ve graduated.” Which was absurd to him, but Nick supposed it was a decent way to try and accumulate power to just a few of their kind. If not everyone was taught how to summon more difficult demons then those who did would rise through the ranks faster than anyone else. It was all a power play. “The summoning we did to try and expose Father Blackwood during the top boy competition was one of them.”

“Really?” she sat up at that, trying to remember what they had done together. It hadn’t been one she’d known before Nick and her had practiced it after forming their plan. 

“Three demons of Plague King status? That took careful configurations,” Nick shook his head, remembering the coven's fear when they had appeared.

“You didn’t tell me how dangerous it was.” Not that it would have mattered. She still would have wanted to do it.

Nick snorted, catching her hand as she lightly swatted at his shoulder. “You figured out the acheron in a couple of days, Sabrina. I didn’t think the conjuring would be that hard for you. And it wasn’t. Plus the one I did back to get that sliver out of Roz was one of his.”

“I don’t think I could have done that without you,” Sabrina glanced over at him. She hadn’t really had an idea of how to pull it out of her friend. Her Aunt Zelda was right, she really did need to focus more on her witch lessons. 

Nick squeezed her hand. “You’re the one who obliterated it.”

“Yeah, but only because you could draw it out. If I’d tried to do that while it was in Roz...it wouldn’t have ended well for her.” She squeezed back. 

“I’m just happy I could help.” He had been terrified of helping, of being that close to Lucifer again, but he couldn’t leave Sabrina alone to try and deal with that. Not when he knew her conjuring abilities were nowhere near to his own. 

“Did...Mrs. Wardwell said--or well _Lilith_ \--” Because it had been her then and not her teacher. “She said the exorcism I did was my dad’s but I don’t know if that was true or not.”

“There is one in his journals, but I don’t know if it's what you did or not,” Nick told her, tugging her back down to rest against him. “I didn’t find that one until after you’d done it.” Or he would have told her about it and smuggled that book out as well.

“Hmmm.” It probably didn’t matter one way or the other. The exorcism had been part of Satan’s plan...though maybe it was part of her father’s as well. There was still so much research to do. 

“A lot of the theoretical ones were about how to better summon and bind. Blood is used a lot, which is why Father Blackwood used it to tie the demons to him,” Nick explained, threading his fingers through her hair. She hummed at his touch, enjoying the simplicity of it. “Blood magic is powerful, but it's also easy to break blood bonds when you know the configurations that were used. Different demons require different ones to render them harmless to you but still deadly to others.” 

Sabrina nodded, taking in everything he was saying. Sometimes she felt like she was a complete novice at nearly everything to do with witchcraft. So much had been new to her once she’d started at the Academy and while she was a quick study, there were so many inner workings of their world that she still didn’t know.

“The ones we’re taught, that Blackwood was using, most of what we’re doing is rendering the demon harmless to us while also tapping into its ability level to bolster our own.” Which was why Blackwood had needed so many. If he’d used Edward Spellman’s methods he could have been unstoppable. “The ones your father came up with allow us to harness more power, to do more with the demon’s abilities that we’re tapping into.”

She frowned as she replayed what he said before turning to look at him. “Do you have those memorized?”

“Not all.” Not yet. “Your father knew most of them. I can teach you while working with you to know who they are.”

Nick frowned as she looked off at that. He could feel her pulling internally away. “I don’t know if I need to be able to summon them that way,” Sabrina murmured and he stopped stroking her hair, moving his hand down to rub soothingly at her back. “Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” He could sense her inner turmoil over what she wanted to say. 

Sabrina sighed and sat up and Nick followed her, catching her hand. “I think I can just call on them.”

He gave it a squeeze. “What makes you think that?”

She shrugged. “It’s...just a feeling.” She didn’t know how to articulate it in words right then, but it felt right to her. “But I’d like to know how my father wanted to do it.”

Nick nodded. “Then we’ll work on it. Plus being able to summon them and bind them the witch way could come in handy even if you don’t need to usually use it. It could throw them off.”

“You know you don’t have to...I know Hell...its…” She struggled again with the right words, looking over at him. 

Nick shook his head, not needing to hear the words. He appreciated that she cared, that she was worried for his well being, but no. “I need to.”

“Nick.” She sighed again, still uncertain.

“He took away a lot, Sabrina,” Nick told her, letting go of her hand as he picked at the grass. “My faith. My sense of… _everything_.” All he’d know had been a lie. The world he was a part of broken in ways he knew could never really be fixed. “He doesn’t get a chance to take you away too. I’m a warlock that doesn’t worship the Dark Lord. That doesn’t think of Hell as our most sacred place anymore. That doesn’t think what he gave us is a gift. What does that make me?”

He threw the grass, watching it fall back down to the dirt. “Smart,” Sabrina murmured, and he snorted at that. “You don’t have to worship him to still be a warlock.” That probably wasn’t exactly true. What the Dark Lord gave he could probably take away but Sabrina would just give it back.

“I don’t. I worship…” Nick cut himself off and took a deep breath before looking over at her. “I worship you.”

“What?” She’d heard that wrong, hadn’t she? Except...no. Lucifer had said something about experiencing her first time being worshipped. And she’d felt that connection with Nick, deeper when she shared her abilities with him than with anyone else so far.

“I have for a while. Since I was in Hell. And not like Agatha and Dorcas were going on about.” Truly. Deeply. 

“Maybe that’s why we keep finding each other when we dream.” It felt like there was more to that though. Because she didn’t share dreams with anyone else. Just him. And Lucifer. But she wasn’t counting anything that the Devil did. 

“Maybe.” He hadn’t done that with anyone else before. Doing so the other night had startled him. “You make me stronger.”

That surprised her. “What do you mean?” 

“When I helped Prudence and Ambrose out...I was able to undo the bindings faster than I ever have before. There were more demons than I’ve ever dealt with at one time. And when I pulled that sliver out of Roz...I think it might be because your power is so...raw?” Nick wasn’t sure that was the right word, but he supposed it fit. There wasn’t any feeling of Sabrina holding back when he called upon her for strength. 

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not?” Sabrina frowned, trying to understand the differences he was talking about. There had been so many changes to her power level in the past few months and she wasn’t sure what was normal and wasn’t for the others.

“It’s not how it works with the Dark Lord,” Nick told her. “We’re bestowed our powers when we sign the book. They don’t change after that point except through what we learn and do. There isn’t a boost. You can grow into them and push them to a certain point but what he gives you then is what you have for life.”

“Except for me,” Sabrina muttered, not exactly happy about the favoritism.

“I think that was less a boost and more you coming into your own,” Nick bumped his shoulder into hers, not liking the frown lines that were settling in her expression as she thought badly about herself.

It earned him a smile and he was considering that a win, no matter how brief it was. “Maybe? Lilith said I haven’t met my full potential yet.” 

Nick nodded. “She’s probably right.” She was Queen of Hell. There might not be a limit to her power anymore.

“I’m terrified of it. And curious. And thrilled to see what I’ll be able to do.” Power called to her. It always had. Even when she was little and toddling around the mortuary she’d been drawn to her aunties and cousin whenever they did spellwork. “But terrified.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t feeling all of that,” Nick pulled her closer, settling his arm around her waist as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“Still willing to catch me if I fall?” Sabrina looked up at the trees again, already knowing his answer but needing to hear it all the same.

Nick stroked her cheek, getting her to look back at him. “Always,” he promised and closed the distance between them to kiss her. It was brief, knowing there was still more on her mind to talk about, and he pressed another to her forehead after pulling away.

“Was there no other way to get more power from the Dark Lord?” Sabrina asked, snuggling up to him again as they watched the shadows dance in the forest around them. 

The sound of birds could be heard in the trees, calling out to one another every so often, and if she really strained she could make out the babbling brook a few meters away. “I think some witches and warlocks might have prayed for it and done different tasks to earn it from him,” Nick told her, thinking back on the stories he’d heard or read about. “But what’s given can be taken.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, catching his free hand with her own.

“He’s taken abilities before,” Nick explained, smiling as she started drawing little symbols on his palm with her fingers. “Or at least that’s the cautionary tale told to most witches and warlocks when they’re young. Don’t defy him unless you want to lose all you have.”

Silence fell between them at that, Sabrina’s heartbeat picking up pace as the ramifications of all she’d done to defy the Dark Lord crashed into her. Could he take her abilities? She wasn’t so sure about that. Possibly before she’d become Queen, but she was as tied to Hell as he was now. But he was a full celestial though and she was only half. Did that matter now after what she’d taken on? Maybe, maybe not. 

What did matter was the fact that he didn’t need to take her abilities for her to lose anything. Lucifer was well aware of how to cut her to the very core and he could do so swiftly and easily. 

He’d already managed to get to Roz once. How long was the endless sleep and golem truly going to be able to contain him for? They were all on borrowed time.

“I think I need to kill him,” Sabrina breathed out, letting go of Nick’s hands to run her hands through her hair. “I don’t want to risk him being able to somehow get to all of you again.” He’d done enough damage as it was. “I just...if he’s gone then there really isn’t a way for me to get out of Hell.”

She’d thought Lilith could handle the place, but Hell wasn’t accepting her and Sabrina knew that it would continue to deny Lilith’s leadership as long as there was a Morningstar around. 

“Sabrina.” Nick pulled her back, hugging her to him. She was tense, her muscles tight, and he wanted to ease them. 

“One day a week isn’t going to work forever.” She knew that. This was worse than trying to navigate the mortal and witch worlds. At least they had been in the same damn realm and before Dorcas and Agatha’s magical accident at the mines hadn’t interfered with one another. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Nick promised her, rubbing soothingly at her back as she clung to him.

“How can you be so sure?” she murmured into his shirt.

“Because it's you and you won’t stop until you do.” It was the truth. She was a force to be reckoned with and good luck to anyone or anything that attempted to get in her way.

“How can you have such faith in me?” Sabrina relaxed a bit at his words, smiling at his reply.

“I met you.” He kissed the crown of her head, letting the silence fall between them again as he pulled her to lay down on the blanket with him.

The thought of her being in Hell had him inwardly reeling, but he pushed the fear down, boxing it up to try and manage later on. Because she was right, one day a week wouldn’t be enough to rule Hell and keep it in check. It was something they were going to need to deal with, but not then, not when he’d just gotten her back. She was safe, they hadn’t hurt her as he’d feared, and for now he just wanted to memorize the way she felt in his arms again.

* * *

Reverend Walker walked down the main street of Greendale, nodding to several of his parishioners as he passed by them. There was much pain in the community, so many affected by the loss of the mines and then the recent outbreak of a disease killing the local crops and animals. Hard times were befalling his lot and he worked hard to keep his faith, to help the others keep theirs. He had visited many in the last few days, offered up advice, and worked to comfort those seeking it. 

He was tired, his bones weary as a cold front swept in from the north, chasing away the sunshine that had been around for most of the day. Thankfully the church was just up ahead, a refuge from the wind that was beating down on him, thunder crackling in the distance. He’d need to call home and let Rosalind know he would be late, but that could wait until he ventured indoors. 

“Hello, Reverend.”

He paused, blinking at the man who was sitting on the bench in front of the church. Had he been there before? Of course he had. No one appeared out of thin air. He must not have noticed him because of how intent he was to head out of the cold.

“Hello,” the Reverend greeted, taking a seat beside the man after he patted the bench beside him. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m in need of chat.” The man’s smile was slightly too charming, reminding the Reverend of Bible stories of old, ones full of temptation and damnation. 

It was a ridiculous thought and he banished it quick enough. “What seems to be troubling you?” 

“Daughters,” the man shook his head as he crossed his legs, hands clasped on top of his knees. “Such troublesome creatures.”

Ah, yes. Children were often a topic of conversation. “Honoring thy father and mother is a commandment that needs to be instilled in them from a young age.”

That smile was back and the Reverend looked away, staring out at the flowers that were being blown about in the wind. “I’m a bit proud of the chaos she’s managed to make of my plans, she takes after me, but there is only so much I can allow.” 

The Reverend nodded, not sure what to say to that, but he’d learned it was best to let people talk and speak once they were done with their own ramblings. “And now she’s blotting pieces of me out of existence. No doubt an idea from Lilith. It screams of her betrayal.” 

Part of the reverend wanted to rise, to walk away from this man who was speaking of things that shouldn’t be, but he couldn’t seem to move. He was rooted to his spot on the bench, the world moving by without so much as a sideways glance toward them. 

“I’ll deal with her soon enough, but my daughter needs to learn that going against me is not the path she wants to take.” 

“Children rebel,” the reverend started, hating the way the man laughed. It sent shivers through him, leaving him colder than he’d ever been.

“Yes, and while in the future I’m sure I’ll encourage such rebellion she will learn not to do so against me.” The man clapped his hands together as he turned to better look at the reverend. “Your flock is very devout, yes?”

It was an odd way to ask it, but Reverend Walker couldn’t help but be proud of his parish. They were small but mighty in their beliefs. Rosalind had unknowingly helped with that. “Yes.”

“And yet you fail in the most basic of his tenants?” The man tsked, shaking his head as he stood, looking down upon the reverend. “You walk away from your roots, the very reason your church was founded in the first place.”

He wasn’t sure what the man was referring to and was ready to ask what the man meant when he leaned forward and touched his forehead, causing the reverend’s eyes to roll back as his mind was filled with images and thoughts that were not entirely his own. Ones with hatred and bias from hundreds of years ago, that still slunk around in the shadows, but not quite given the weight that they had used to. 

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” 

Reverend Walker blinked, wondering how he’d come to sit down on the bench in front of his church. He’d been walking toward it a moment ago. He rubbed his hand against the back of his neck, silently berating himself for not getting enough sleep. Maybe he should head home instead. 

He passed by Cerberus Books, head beginning to throb as he looked at the monstrosities on display. It was gaudiness like this that was bringing the curses on their town. They needed to turn away from it, from the horror movie fests to the music he’d begun hearing from his daughter’s room.

_Witch_ , the wind seemed to howl as he tightened his coat, shaking his head at the contradiction to all God saw fit for them to have.

He had a new sermon to start writing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Roz no longer has Lucifer inside of her and the Spellmans are all together again, but the Dark Lord just can't help but cause further issues.
> 
> Next chapter will have some Hell lessons with Ambrose, Hilda talking to Zelda about witchy therapy, Fright Club learning some things, Sabrina handling Hell tasks, and then Ambrose, Sabrina and Nick getting one step closer to uncovering Edward's prophecy.


	13. Chapter 13

_The sad truth is that certain types of things can’t go backward.  
Once they start going forward, no matter what you do, they can’t go back the way they were.  
If even one little thing goes awry, then that’s how it will stay forever.  
_

Sabrina thumbed through the text on the beginning days of Hell. Her Ancient Summarian wasn’t exactly the best and Lucifer’s scribblings ranged from long winded rants to drawings of various parts of Hell that he was creating to lists. So many damn lists. She felt herself going cross eyed as she tried to make sense of it all. Add in the fact that it reminded her entirely too much of Edward Spellman’s own journals, the ones she wanted to painstakingly read through, and she closed the book with a sigh.

Finding any sort of similarity between the two figures made her feel nauseous, her stomach tightening as she pushed the book forward, glancing over at her cousin who was eagerly going through his own text. “All of the circles were not formed from the beginning,” Ambrose murmured, scratching his head as he grinned, the quill beside him scratching out notes. “Which makes sense that he would have formed them as time went on. Needing new places for the demons and the mortals. The population only grows.”

“Plus the monsters and other creatures down there,” Sabrina pointed out, glad that at least one of them was enjoying the history lesson.

“Think of it, cousin, in these--” He gestured at the books set out before them. “We’ll learn which of the various myths are just that and which are truly real. We already know Typhon is. But what of Fenrir, or the Draguar, Gorgons, Lampia, Tiamat. The list goes on.”

“We could probably just ask Lilith when we go on Sunday.” Sabrina had to bite back a laugh at the indignant look he gave her. 

“ _Read_.” Ambrose pushed the book back at her. “We’re going to go over how he created the Styx once I’m finished with this one.”

Sabrina pouted; not that it mattered considering he was already looking back at the book in front of him. She flipped back to the last page she’d been on, working on the translation of the diagram of Pandemonium. It wasn’t quite as big as the one she’d been to, but she spotted Lilith’s name jotted next to the chamber room that seemed to be his own. 

Had he ever loved her? Or was everything a manipulation from the beginning? All of the tales of Lilith and him were so convoluted now that she knew both of them. Was there any truth to them?

Sabrina wasn’t sure Lucifer Morningstar even knew what love was, what true devotion to someone looked like. She knew he was jealous of it, could see that whenever she spoke of her Aunties being her family. It echoed in how Hell reacted to her wanting to return to Earth. 

She spotted the portrait of Edward Spellman against the far wall behind Ambrose, her attention wavering from the task at hand. “What did he try to teach you?”

“Hmm?” Ambrose didn’t bother looking up yet. 

“My father. You said he tried teaching you some of his new methods. So what was that like? What were they?” Was it the same as what Nick had tried? Or was there more?

“I don’t think this will help you with comparing the different mythos of Hell, Tartarus, Niflhel, Yomi, or one of the countless other ones that Auntie Zee has pulled for us to look at, cousin,” Ambrose reminded, tapping at the book in front of her.

“It is possible to work on two things at once,” Sabrina countered, leaning forward to knock his quill over. 

That earned her a glare. “Having knowledge of the various creatures that could be in Hell might weigh a little more highly on the scale.”

“Plus, Aunt Zee is busy with the twins,” Sabrina tried to butt in but he just kept going. 

“Though, why we can’t just get an inventory of that is beyond me,” Ambrose murmured and Sabrina sighed, tugging at the book he was so intently looking at. “And yes, yes, we could just ask Lilith.”

“It's not like she’ll be popping in to check on us in the next twenty minutes,” she continued, yanking it free from his grip.

“Maybe Auntie doesn’t think we’ll get a complete list. Or that there even is one. I suppose Satan isn’t one to share all of his secrets with the demons considering their nature. And Satan knows Lilith isn’t exactly the most honest with us.” Ambrose stroked his chin at all of the possibilities before tapping at her book again, steadfastly ignoring her pout.

“I just want a chance to get to know him in any way I can,” she murmured, sighing softly as she flipped open the book. 

Ambrose groaned at that and Sabrina tried not to smirk, knowing she’d won. “What exactly do you want to know?” 

She leaned forward, glancing back at the painting. “What was he like?”

Sabrina knew her aunts and cousin loved her father. She knew talking about him hurt them, that thinking of him being gone caused an ache that never quite went away. She ached for him too, for him and her mother, but Sabrina couldn’t quite comprehend what it was like to have known someone for as long as they had and for him to suddenly be gone. How did you go from seeing your brother nearly every day for over five hundred years to never hearing his voice again? She had an inkling what it might be like when Nick had been in Hell, that yearning and desperation that she could never quite rid herself of, and so she tried not to push. But she ached to know more too.

“Talking to his ghost only gives me so much, you know? And the journals are good but I don’t know how he took his tea, or what his favorite pie was? Was he a morning person? Or a night one?” All of the little things that made up a person were the pieces she didn’t know. He was a great warlock, a High Priest, Headmaster at one point. But she didn’t know him.

“Chamomile. Like you without the sugar,” Ambrose told her, and Sabrina liked the way he smiled as he said it, looking as though he was remembering a forgotten memory. “And any that Aunt Hilda baked, but he seemed to like cherry best. But definitely night. He’d stay up all hours working on different theories, jotting away in his journals. Until he met Diana--your mom.”

“They were going to live here, right?” She was pretty sure that had been the plan. 

Ambrose nodded. “That was the plan.”

“How often did he visit you in England?” Sabrina didn’t know much about that time. Ambrose’s parents had been killed by witch hunters and Hilda had gone to look after him. She hadn’t tried to get any of them to tell her more. Ambrose had spoken a little about his parents to her here and there, but it was a subject she knew better than to tug at.

“Hilda didn’t want to uproot me right away after...everything,” he paused, voice cracking for a second before he took a deep breath. “A few times a year when I was younger. Less after my Dark Baptism. He was researching something then. I don’t remember what though. I didn’t really ask.”

“But he tried to teach you some things?” Sabrina pushed, watching her cousin shrug.

“I wasn’t too interested at the time. I learned more under house arrest than before it. More time for reading.” He’d been in with Crowley by then, following him and his crew around instead. “He helped get me house arrest though. As opposed to what the others got. Edward Spellman’s name carried a lot of weight, even if he was considered radical.”

“Because of his views on mortals,” Sabrina muttered, dropping back against her chair.

“You have to realize, Sabrina, that witch hunters were a very real threat. They still are, but not quite to the degree they were back when the Aunties were growing up.” Or even when he had. “Have you ever considered just how many of their friends they have seen killed? Hung, drowned, burned? The followers of the False God were on a quest to eradicate us. Add in the fact that they have angels backing them at times and well, you can’t blame witches for trying to keep away.”

She understood that to a degree. “But we don’t. Not really. Our communities are in theirs.”

Ambrose shook his head, knowing they were probably not getting back to looking at Hell’s history that lesson. “On the outskirts. We’re as close to the town as we can be without truly being part of it. There’s a reason the Aunties went with the mortuary business. It keeps people away, not asking too many questions because of their own superstitions, but still seeing us as part of them.”

“Have we always had the mortuary?” They had for as long as she’d been in the home, but Sabrina was realizing her life so far was like a drop in an ocean.

“This house has been here for hundreds of years.” Ambrose cocked his head to the side. “Or some form of it. But various glamors and protection spells kept it from mortals’ eyes. Especially after the Greendale Thirteen.”

“But we stopped using those?” Because everyone in town knew about the mortuary. It was a staple of it. Like Dr. Cee’s or the movie theater or Reverend Walker’s church.

“Your father’s idea. He started going into town more then as well, intermingling,” Ambrose remembered. Hilda had been worried while Zelda had been livid. It had been the most excitement in the house in decades.

“Intermingling?” That was not exactly how she would phrase interacting with the rest of the town, but she realized it was different for her. She’d grown up with all of them. She was never an outsider. Her aunts had made sure of that by bringing her to various functions and enrolling her in the local school.

“How else do you think he met your mother?” Ambrose asked, shaking his head as he grinned. “The Aunties were beside themselves. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Aunt Zelda yell as loudly as when he told us that he was in love with her.”

“But they loved one another? And the Aunties loved her?” Wasn’t that what she had always been told?

Ambrose leaned forward then, concerned. “Sabrina, you know they did.”

She nodded and he frowned, knowing that meant she wasn’t so sure. Her tells were obvious to him by then. “What’s bringing this doubt on?”

“Remember how I brought up Aunt Priscilla?” she asked, looking down at the paper in front of her, not really focusing on anything it said.

“Yes, reminding me that you can be quite the rabble rouser when you want to be.” He’d wondered why she had brought up their ancestor, but the business with Farther Blackwood had needed to be his focus.

“Apparently she told my dad a new prophecy before she died. The one Lucifer knew was supposed to happen, but then there was one after it about me ushering in the age of the Morningstar and witches and mortals living together peacefully.” She picked at the paper she’d been taking notes on. “And he’d been working to make that happen ever since.” 

That was the part that hurt the most, that brought about all of her sinking doubt. He said he loved her and so did everyone else that knew him, but how could he love her and put her on this trajectory? Sixteen years old and Queen of Hell, the weight of the world literally on her shoulders. No one who loved her would purposefully lead her down that road. 

“Oh, and apparently Nick is involved in it too.” Though they didn’t know how.

Ambrose tapped his fingers against his lips as he worked through everything she had said, the weight of it all dawning on him. No wonder she was doubting Edward Spellman’s love. She hadn’t ever known the man and how singularly focused he could get about things. Sabrina did it sometimes too, but she was more like Zelda in that regard. Stubborn to a fault and never backing down. 

“How do you know Nick is involved?” Maybe it was best to focus on that part for now.

“My father drew a sketch of him in the journal he left for me and we’re pretty sure it's his initials in the other books. I need to get back to reading it. With everything I just haven’t.” She shrugged, looking around at the other books. She’d been worried, putting it off. Not quite wanting to learn any more secrets with everything else happening. But there was no avoiding it anymore. “I just wish we knew exactly what Aunt Priscilla’s prophecy said.” 

“It could be at the manor,” Ambrose suggested.

“Manor?” Right. The Spellman place in England.

“There’s quite a bit there that no one has gone through in ages.” He vaguely remembered Uncle Edward having a room there, one that he and Hilda didn’t have access to. Or was that just his active imagination. 

“If he wrote it down,” Sabrina muttered, because there was always a chance he hadn’t.

“Or drew it,” Ambrose pointed out. “Uncle Edward was a fan of his sketches.”

“Could we go there? Not now, obviously, because then Aunt Zee really would kill us for skipping out on lessons, but soon?” Like tomorrow possibly?

“It's about time you wanted to expand your horizons beyond this little town.” Ambrose rubbed his hands together, entirely too much glee in his expression.

“I love Greendale,” Sabrina protested.

Ambrose scoffed, waving his hand around. “Because you haven’t glimpsed what’s beyond this hovel.”

Her mouth dropped open at that. The audacity of him! “The mortuary isn’t a hovel.”

“It's the smallest property the family owns,” he pointed out and she shrugged, eyeing him closely. 

“It's cozy! I love it.” Sabrina narrowed her eyes as she spotted his lips twitching in amusement. He was definitely teasing her. “It’s home.”

Ambrose grinned. “That it is.”

The knock on the study door had both of them pulling their forgotten books closer and quills in hand. Even though they _knew_ Zelda definitely wouldn’t have knocked. It was Nick who poked his head in. 

“Ready for that lesson?” he asked as he headed in, both of them relaxing as he closed the door behind him.

“What are we trying for today?” Sabrina asked, thankful to be closing the book before her for good as she rose. 

“Hellhounds,” Nick told her as the three of them worked to move the books and table off to the side.

Sabrina squirmed. “They're so slobbery.”

Ambrose paused at that, books floating in the air. “Please tell me you didn’t pet a hellhound.”

She shrugged. “It kept doing that head butting thing Salem does. I couldn’t not pet it.”

Nick chuckled while Ambrose caught the book he’d been looking through earlier, muttering to himself as he left the two alone for the conjuring lesson. 

“So hellhounds?” Sabrina asked before pressing a soft kiss to Nick’s lips. 

“I figured we should continue with the demons that you could use the best for protection from other demons,” Nick reasoned, and she had to admit it was a good strategy. They were vicious creatures who looked ready to tear anyone else apart if asked, even if they did seem to like getting their bellies rubbed.

* * *

Theo couldn’t stop glaring at the back of the classmate who had sat in Sabrina’s usual spot. It had only been a couple of days of her not coming to school with them. The desk had been hers for months and everyone knew that while there weren’t assigned seats, everyone had their seat by that time of year. They didn’t just change part way through. 

Roz sat down next to him, in _her_ seat, quirking her lips at the situation before simply sighing. “It's probably for the best,” she murmured, leaning toward Theo. Their teacher hadn’t made it into the room yet so they were good to go with talking.

“It’s weird,” Theo muttered, crossing his arms and refusing to give up glaring. “Like it was one thing when she went to the Academy after everything. She was basically just avoiding Harvey then. We kind of figured she’d get over it in a few weeks and they could be around one another again.”

They had always assumed she’d be back. The four of them together forever...or at least through high school. There was so much on their high school bucket list that they hadn’t accomplished yet and they were supposed to do it together. But that wouldn’t happen anymore.

“But she’s not coming back,” Theo continued, tearing at the page in his notebook.

“We’ll still see her though,” Roz tried to sound reassuring. It was difficult though, her heart not really believing it. “Remember we’ve got a dinner date tomorrow night. And she’s going to do a sleepover with us on Friday.”

“Yeah.” Theo nodded, but it still wasn’t the same. Harvey hurried into the classroom, narrowly beating the bell and skidded to sit down at the seat in front of Roz. “Why couldn’t it be the Academy that she gave up?”

Harvey looked over at the two of them, catching up on the conversation. “You really think learning algebra is going to help her with ruling...there?” Roz asked, causing Theo to sigh.

Probably not. “I think they do their own kind of math anyway? For like...science stuff,” Theo tore more of the paper, making it as small as he could. 

“Science?” Harvey couldn’t see any kind of science being done at the Academy. Theo imitated making potions. “Oh. Yeah.”

“It just...it feels like we’re losing her,” Theo finally continued, echoing what they were all thinking. 

Silence fell between the three of them, all of their moods dropping as the teacher arrived, closing the door behind him. Announcements started over the loudspeaker, but none of them were really listening. Harvey had turned to doodle in his notebook while Roz flipped open the book she had been reading. Theo glanced out the window, watching the sunlight begin to peak through the clouds. 

“My mom says it's because we’ve been cursed.” Theo turned toward the voice behind him, trying not to look too obvious in his eavesdropping. It was Lisa from the farm a little ways down the road from his own.

“Cursed? _Come on_. Who’s going to curse Greendale?” her best friend asked, scoffing at the idea.

“Who usually curses people?” Lisa countered, sighing as her friend shrugged, not knowing the answer. “Witches.”

“Witches?” the friend laughed as the teacher started calling for their attention.

Theo looked over at Roz and Harvey, not sure he’d heard the exchange correctly, but from their wide eyes he was certain that he had. People talking about curses and witches was definitely _not_ a good thing. Lisa’s pencil rolled off her desk, landing on the floor beside Roz. She leaned over and picked it up for the girl, freezing at the images that quickly flashed in her mind.

Pitchforks. A mob. Buildings on Main Street were on fire. And was that...she was pretty sure it was her dad ranting about the evils of the world, calling for his flock to rid the town of them. 

“Can I have it back?” Lisa demanded, holding out her hand for the pencil. 

“Sorry,” Roz murmured, handing it over. She shook her head at Theo and Harvey. They’d talk after class.

* * *

Sabrina stared at the white house with the perfectly manicured yard. Children were riding bikes up and down the block, sprinklers spraying in the distance on one lawn. Everything about the scenery seemed picture perfect. There was a ‘Welcome Home, Abbey!’ sign on the front lawn faded a bit with time and weather.

She stayed squarely on the sidewalk, refusing to step foot onto the driveway that led up to the house, knowing that as soon as she did she would need to complete the task she’d come there for. People walked right by her, no one paying her any attention. Lilith had said that was how it would be, that she would be invisible to the others while dealing with Hell’s task. 

Only the man whose soul she came to collect would be able to see her. 

The minivan headed up the driveway and Sabrina watched the family climb out of it. They looked happy, the little girl running toward the house and enthusiastically pulling open the screen door for her mother. The dad waited behind, fiddling with the back door as the older couple who Sabrina guessed were the grandparents got out of the car and headed after the little girl. The man was waving the older one off.

“I got the suitcases,” he called as the back door of the car lifted. 

Sabrina waited until the others were all inside before finally crossing the threshold. The man still stood at the trunk, not bothering to lift either bag out. His shoulders were slumped forward, the happy exterior he’d been showing earlier was gone, replaced by a heaviness that Sabrina knew all too well. 

“You’re not the Devil," He glanced over at her when she finally stopped beside him.

“No. I took over,” Sabrina murmured, trying not to look at the unicorn plush toy wedged between the seat and door or the wrapped presents peeking out of the shopping bag squished in beside the suitcases.

“How?” he asked, not sure he believed such a thing was possible.

“It’s a family business.” That was the simplest explanation she could come up with.

“Is it really awful?” he asked, picking up a pink blanket that had been strung across the back of the backseats. Sabrina saw the initials stitched onto the corner underneath ‘Daddy loves you’.

She didn’t know how to answer that, part of her wanting to lie, to assure him that everything would be okay. But there was nothing okay about Hell for a mortal. “I’ll try to put you somewhere that isn’t as bad as the others.”

She had no idea where that would be. She should have paid more attention in her lessons with Ambrose, researched the circles of Hell more thoroughly. 

The man glanced over at the front door as they heard laughter waft out from it. “She’ll be okay?”

“That’s the deal. She’ll live to an old age and die peacefully in her sleep,” Sabrina promised him. The dying peacefully in her sleep hadn’t been part of the contract but she’d added it. 

“Then I’m ready,” he told her, even as his voice cracked.

She wanted to null the contract like she had done with the other man, but Hell had already claimed his soul. Nulling it had only meant he finally died. This one hadn’t fulfilled his bargain yet. His daughter lived and he needed to die, his soul bound for Hell. She could see the darkening of his soul around the edges already beginning to take hold, Lilith’s words about the twisted changes that would happen to him if his soul wasn’t claimed. 

Sabrina held out her hand, closing her eyes as he took it. 

His body collapsed to the ground as she held tightly to his soul, vanishing with it as his wife cried out for him from the doorway. His daughter's screams for her father echoed in Sabrina’s head as she arrived in the middle of her throne room. 

Lilith was waiting for her with several of the minions, though thankfully none of Hell’s aristocracy was present. The Mother of Demons snapped her fingers, causing the minions to hurriedly move from their spots and toward the soul. “You know where to take him.”

Sabrina tried to breathe as she watched the man be led away. “I want him put...I don’t know where to put him.” Where was okay? Where would he not be endlessly tortured for all eternity just because he wanted his daughter to live? “Where should I put him?”

“I’ll handle it,” Lilith told her as she stopped in front of Sabrina. She reached over and brushed at the girl’s cheek. “We need to work on your emotions. Queens do not cry.”

The hellhounds sitting in front of the throne whined, seeking attention and to comfort her, but Sabrina pulled away, not letting it get near her. “I don’t want him anywhere near the Plague Kings.” 

She teleported away, unwilling to stay one minute longer within its walls. 

Lilith smacked her lips as Hell shook in response to the girl’s rejection. “You’re the one who picked a teeanger as your queen,” she snapped before striding out of the throne room. 

It better get used to Sabrina’s dejected mood swings. They had at least fifty more years before she was out of the equivalent of witch teen years.

* * *

Zelda looked up, ready to glare at whoever had entered her Headmistress office without knocking, finding her sister walking in. The plate of peach cobbler was the only thing that had Zelda holding her tongue as Hilda sat down across from her, placing the dessert down on the desk with a knife and fork beside it. There was an agenda here, she knew that. Hilda wouldn’t come carting around her favorite without one.

“We need to discuss Nicholas,” Hilda started as she sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs. 

That definitely hadn’t been who Zelda had thought this conversation would be about. “What about him?”

She also wasn’t expecting the look her sister directed at her either. It wasn’t often that her baby sister looked indignant, but she was directing that toward her now. “He's struggling. We all know it,” Hilda continued, flicking lint from her skirt. “And our sixteen year old niece shouldn't be the one helping him through it.” She paused, sighing a little. “Or at least not the _only_ one.”

The cobbler didn’t seem all that appetising any longer and Zelda set down the fork. “I'm not even certain how to approach it, Hilda.” Which was why she hadn’t tried to yet. “Prayer is out of the question. There is no looking to the Dark Lord to help heal him. Or Lilith as we were considering since it seems she did her own torture to the boy.”

“There is talking though,” Hilda pointed out, leaning forward to take her own bite of the pie.

“Hmmm?” Talking about one’s feelings was not exactly any witch’s strong suit.

“He isn't the only one of the coven who has been turned into a puppet by someone in.... authority,” Hilda reminded and Zelda echoed Hilda’s look from before as she glowered at her sister.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Zelda bit out. There was no use talking about any of it. Talking never helped with the chaos of the past. It didn’t change it. Only brought up old wounds better left buried.

“Our coven was nearly decimated. Our nephew nearly murdered for another's crimes. Our niece is Queen of Hell. ” Hilda purposefully skipped over the own atrocities that had been dealt out to Zelda, knowing it was better not to keep pushing. “ _None_ of us are fine.”

Zelda leaned back against her chair, unable to deny any of it. “What do you suggest, Hildy?”

“For one, maybe not discussing Hell at the breakfast table, hmm?” Hilda directed a pointed look at her. 

“We need to sort out precisely what Sabrina's curriculum is,” Zelda countered, shrugging that off. 

“And that can't be done after we've eaten? Or are you answering Ambrose's incessant questions about how it was down there absolutely vital while we're eating our eggs?” Hilda asked, remembering the conversation earlier in the day. While Prudence, Ambrose and Zelda had been enthralled by the conversation if they had bothered to look at Nicholas they would have seen how much he was struggling with the topic. Plus… “You know Sabrina doesn't like it either.” And not just because it made the boy uncomfortable.

“I suppose we could save those for another time,” Zelda conceded. It had just been nice to condense it down to that portion of the day before she headed into the Academy.

“I’d suggest not having him take on demonology with her but he wants to and is the most qualified to do so,” Hilda muttered. She didn’t really care about the qualifications part, only the fact that Nicholas was insisting on being the one to teach Sabrina. She knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t and she was hurt because of not knowing something he would have taught her.

“We can only hold them back for so long.” It was pointless to try and continue to do so. Zelda knew all of them were too headstrong to allow for it.

“Then, the Devil was never the only one our kind looked to. Maybe we need to look back to the older ways. Or…” Hilda paused, sighing as she looked away. “And I hate to say it because of how much more of a burden it will add to her.” She looked back at Zelda and her sister knew what would be said before the words were out of Hilda’s mouth. _Sabrina_. “We could look to the new Queen for where to turn our loyalties. Praying for her as we used to do for the Dark Lord might help with healing.”

“She's a child,” Zelda reminded, the idea leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

“ _I know_.” Hilda shook her head. “I hate that Edward may have had a hand in this.” Their brother who she had idolized to a ridiculous degree had deliberately placed Sabrina on this trajectory. Had he no concept of the weight of everything he was putting on his daughter?

“He was always very singular in his views,” Zelda murmured. “Nothing could sway him once he had an idea and believed he was right.” It was a terrible fault of his, one they had fought over more times than she could remember. 

“But _this_ , Zelds.” Hilda tapped her fingers together, thinking of the enormity of the situation. “It's too much.” There had always been big expectations for a Spellman, but what was being required of Sabrina far surpassed any of them.

“We’ll help her with it. As a family,” Zelda assured, waving her hand Hilda’s worry. She steadfastly believed that they could do anything as long as they worked as a family. Edward seemed to have forgotten that with all of his secrets, but she hadn’t. “She’s not alone.”

“Is that enough though?” Hilda murmured, because as much as she believed in their family it still seemed too enormous of a task.

“It will have to be,” Zelda told her. “But back to Nicholas. Perhaps it is you who needs to be the one to talk to him. You have always been the best at listening.”

Hilda arched a brow. “Was that an actual compliment?”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Zelda replied as she cut back into the cobbler. “We’ll monitor how those conversations go with you. I believe Ambrose was doing something with him as well at one point. So talk to him.” Then they would monitor and determine what else to do from there. “As for the coven, we'll look to the old ways first. There are still plenty trickled in with what we celebrate from Lupercalia to the Winter Solstice and beyond.”

Hilda nodded, pleased she’d made a bit of headway and a plan was seeming to come together for moving forward. “Have you noticed…” she trailed off, not entirely sure how to explain her magical fatigue. 

“Have I noticed?” Zelda prompted, gesturing with her fork for Hilda to continue.

“Nothing.” There was enough already to deal with. Hilda would just try adding some more sleeping tea to her nightly routine. She knew she hadn’t been getting enough sleep to truly recharge. That was probably all that was happening. She reached forward to take another bite of the cobbler, quickly pulling back when Zelda swatted at her with the fork.

* * *

Ambrose leaned back in his chair, causing it to tilt backward as he tried to get a better look at the sudden noise coming from another part of the house. He had been the only one in the mortuary--the twins, Nick, Zelda and Prudence were all at the Academy, Hilda at Dr. Cee’s, and Sabrina had been off on a duty for Hell that she’d vehemently told him he couldn’t accompany her on. But someone had arrived home, the stirring in the air from a teleportation spell had alerted him at first but he hadn’t thought much of it. The mortuary wouldn’t allow anyone who meant them harm to teleport inside. 

But there was some sort of commotion happening in the study now and he rose, quietly making his way toward it. Had someone let slip that they had Infernal texts in their home? There were a number of witches and warlocks who would want to get their hands on them. He readied himself to attack and defend the objects as he pushed the door open, dropping his hands to his sides as he stepped through and caught Sabrina frantically going through the different books.

“Why can’t anything be _simple_?” she muttered, slamming the current book shut before scanning the scroll that had beneath it. Whatever she was looking for wasn’t in it, that scroll pushed to the side as she grabbed the next one.

“Perhaps we should treat the ancient scrolls a little gentler?” Ambrose suggested as he fully entered the room, moving so he could get a look at her face.

Her red rimmed eyes, the puffiness underneath them, gave away the fact that she had been crying. “Cousin?” 

“Why isn’t there a ‘not horrible place’ part of it all. Clearly labeled. Even if I did know all the stupid demons by name that are down there I don’t know which of them aren’t…” She trailed off. Was there even a thing as a demon that wasn’t awful? Probably not. Being horrible, especially to mortals was part of why they had been created. “Even Limbo isn’t good. Wandering aimlessly is fine, but there’s always the chance of getting eaten by the Soul Eater.” 

Ambrose stopped her movements, catching her arms and causing her to turn toward him. “What’s wrong? Why do you need a ‘not horrible place’.”

“Because he’s going down there and I need to find him a place where he won’t…” Sabrina pushed him away, blinking away tears as she turned back to the books. “Maybe we didn’t bring the right ones back with us.” 

“Who’s going down there?” Ambrose asked, moving the scrolls she discarded out of the way. “Is this about your earlier task?”

“Why couldn't it have been like the other time? He deserved Hell.” She pressed her hands against the table, looking down at the current text but not clearly seeing any of the words. “Sacrificing other people so he could live longer. I didn’t care where he burned.” Her tears hit the paper, staining it. “But this...he just wanted his daughter to live. She’s so little.” She looked over at Ambrose, unable to hold back her sob any longer. “And I took her dad away.”

Ambrose pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as she shook against him. She was gulping for air as she cried into his shirt. “I really am evil.” He nearly hadn’t heard it, squeezing her harder once he made out her words.

“You’re not evil, cousin.” She shook her head against him, crying harder at his attempt to comfort her. 

“She doesn’t have her dad because of me.” She’d taken him away. There would be no further birthday celebrations together. No Father-daughter dance. Sabrina knew how much it hurt to not have a father in her life and she’d done that to someone else.

“No,” Ambrose shifted so that she would need to look at him and wiped at her eyes. “She doesn’t have him because life isn’t fair.”

“I took his soul.” Life hadn’t done that. She had.

“I’m guessing he sold it?” Ambrose persisted, waiting for Sabrina to nod. “To the Dark Lord, yes? And the False God didn’t bother making a similar deal.”

“Lilith said he didn’t get an answer from him,” Sabrina remembered, sniffling. 

“Then it sounds to me like you were simply collecting,” he pointed out and Sabrina shook her head.

“That doesn’t make it better.” 

No, Ambrose supposed that fact wouldn’t help much in comforting her. “You said Hell changed for you, right?”

“Yeah.” She remembered the stars in its sky, reflecting the ones she’d missed gazing up at with him.

Ambrose nodded slowly, remembering everything they had been reading earlier that morning. “Maybe you could get it to make you a different circle?”

“You think I could do that?” Sabrina glanced over at the books like he was doing.

“The nine circles were created over time. Stands to reason that you should be able to create one too.” Ambrose pulled forward the journal he’d been reading from below the haphazard stack they had created.

Sabrina stepped back, her mind a mess of thoughts on what to do for that. “I should go back then and--”

“No.” Ambrose caught her arm, stopping her from going anywhere. “You need to think about this. What’s it going to look like? Who will run it? Be strategic about it. You can move him there once it's done. This isn’t something you want to haphazardly do.”

She nodded and he let out a breath as she sat down beside him. He squeezed her shoulder, unable to help smiling, feeling infinitely proud of her in that moment. There was no hiding her crossed fingers behind her back or rushing off. His baby cousin was growing up. Ambrose set the notebook they had been using to write down information earlier and flipped it open, handing her a pen as well. 

“Jot down your ideas. We’ll go through them. Show them to Auntie Zee and get her opinion on them,” Ambrose suggested, because their aunt would be able to point out any areas they might be missing or why certain ideas might not work. “Though which demons to preside over it might still be a bit of a problem…And remember, you do not need to get this done in one day.”

She seemed ready to protest that, her thoughts most likely back on the soul she’d collected, but a shift in the air told them someone else was teleporting into the room and the two turned, spotting Nick holding an agitated Salem. The familiar leapt from his arms, heading straight to Sabrina, demanding to be picked up. She scooped the cat up and cuddled him close to her.

“Salem came to get me. Said something was wrong.” Nick looked between the two of them. The room was definitely a lot messier than it had been in the morning and he noted that Sabrina had been crying.

“Hell sucks,” she muttered as she pet Salem before offering him as much of a smile as she could.

Nick moved over to her, placing down the journal he’d been looking at so that he could hug her. Ambrose rose, ready to give the two of them the room, but stopped as the sketch in the corner of the journal caught his eye. He _knew_ it.

“Where did you get this?” Ambrose asked, picking it up and tapping the drawing. He knew before Nick answered, recognizing the handwriting beside it as well.

“It's one of Edward Spellman’s journals,” Nick told him. “The one he left for Sabrina.”

“I know this.” He showed them the page, tapping the sketch that looked like a variety of squiggles ringed around one another.

“It's on a few pages.” Nick held out his hand, turning them to show Ambrose once he was given the journal back. “We thought it was just a doodle.”

Ambrose shook his head at that, grinning. “Uncle Edward didn’t do doodles. It's a knob of wood on the wall at the manor. This one is significant because if a Spellman pushes it then it unlocks the room behind it. Only a Spellman can enter.”

He didn’t like how the two of them looked at one another, a silent agreement passing between them, before looking at him. “We need to go there,” Sabrina told him in that tone that Ambrose knew there would be no talking her out of. What she meant was they needed to go there _now_.

He knew he should try to reason that it was best to wait for the Aunties or that it was the middle of the night there, but both sounded fairly weak for an excuse. Plus he was pretty curious about what they might find. 

“Hands,” Ambrose told them, holding his hands out for them to take. Once they had and Salem had been deposited on the table he continued, “Lanuae magicae.”

They arrived at the front of the Spellman manor, a building that Ambrose hadn’t expected to step foot inside of again for at least another century. Thankfully his parents hadn’t died inside of its walls, but he’d received news of their demise when he had been inside, only a few years younger than Sabrina was now. It had been decades since he’d set foot inside of it after leaving in the middle of the night in his twenty-eighth year, ready to follow Crowley to the ends of the earth. 

The only regret he’d had about that night was knowing Hilda would be waking in the morning to nothing but a note with two words written in his handwriting: _I’m sorry_. He’d told her he wouldn’t go, that he was going to continue on with his education instead, follow after Uncle Edward in the academic arena, but instead he’d skipped off, breaking her heart. 

“It's so big,” Sabrina murmured, catching Nick’s hand to hold tightly onto. 

“I told you the mortuary was a hovel,” Ambrose teased, knocking his shoulder into hers. “We stay together. I’m not sure what traps the Aunties might have left in place to keep any lookiloos out.”

He knew the grounds were warded but that had never stopped their aunts from going overboard with other protections inside as well. After over five hundred centuries, the two of them left very little to chance. A variety of vines, moss and cobwebs seemed to have taken over the exterior, rising high up the cobblestoned walls. It offered up a similar eerie atmosphere to the building that mimicked the mortuary back in Greendale. 

Nick shivered, a sense of foreboding running up his spine, causing him to want to teleport quickly away and leave the house far behind. The other two weren’t reacting the same and Ambrose shook his head. “Sorry, completely forgot,” he muttered, turning toward Nick and weaving magic on him. “Amicus et familiaras.” 

Sabrina arched a brow, wondering exactly what he’d done. “Welcoming spell,” Nick explained. “I’m guessing this place is warded against anyone that’s not a Spellman from being near.” It's what most witch families did for any building they weren’t currently occupying but wished to keep in the family. 

“Aperti ianuam,” Ambrose murmured and the front door opened for them. “Lux candelarum.” 

The various candles lining the wall and in the chandelier that hung in the middle of the large foyer all ignited, lighting up the room. Ambrose stepped inside, bowing with a flourish before spreading his arms out as he turned around, ignoring the rising sense of trouble that pulled at him. This place was full of unfinished business. 

“Welcome to the Spellman residence. Try to keep your wits about you,” he teased the other two as he turned to look at the grand entrance, swallowing at the ghosts of the past he could sense watching the three of them.

Sabrina and Nick stepped across the threshold and a crow flew into the house above their heads. It cawed before slamming into the wall, its neck breaking on impact and falling to the floor in front of them. 

The three of them stared at it before looking at one another.

Well. That certainly wasn’t the best omen to be greeted with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zelda and Hilda's ideas for helping Nick might not be perfect but they're trying. This is newfound territory for everyone with what happened to him because of who tortured him. 
> 
> And _slowly_ Sabrina is realizing she can't just jump head first into things. Planning is needed. Though obviously sometimes things still need to be done right away or they wouldn't have headed to the manor already. 
> 
> Next chapter we'll finally get a look at the prophecy that Edward was working so hard to bring forward.


	14. Chapter 14

_But big secrets, like massive stars,  
with time and constant fear grow stronger,  
creating a gravitational pull that eventually  
When they get so big, they become a black hole.  
_

Nick felt a familiarity to the manor as they followed Ambrose down the labyrinth of hallways. He had never stepped foot in it before but this matched more with the jumbled mess of memories he had of his own childhood. There was a sense of timelessness in the walls and while the mortuary emitted that as well, there were scatterings of newness all throughout it. Bits of Sabrina’s mortal life that blended in seamlessly with the history of the place. A pair of roller skates half tucked beneath her bedside table, cat toys strewn about throughout the home, school photos from when she had first started school to the latest year pinned to a board in the kitchen.

Here there were grand portraits, ones showing Hilda, Zelda and Edward in their youth, others that Nick didn’t know but had a feeling was Ambrose’s mother and father. They were in different styles, signifying the time period that they had been created. An image of Ambrose was on the next wall, looking like he did then, but there was less experience shining through in his eyes. He hadn’t yet traveled down the path that would lead to his arrest.

“Is that me?” Sabrina asked as they stopped, gazing at the painting of a small blond girl, no more than two years old. It was less weathered than the other ones, the frame without any blemishes or signs of aging. 

“Guess the aunties have been here at least once,” Ambrose murmured, trying to place when it had been created. Probably during one of the weeks when he’d locked himself to his room, falling into dramatic melancholy over his confinement, because he couldn’t recall it.

“I like the ruffles,” Nick teased, nodding toward the excess of them in the very red dress.

She bumped her elbow into him, scrunching her nose in distaste. “It screams Aunt Zelda.” Hilda would have had her in something softer. 

“And this would be Aunt Priscilla,” Ambrose told them as he stepped forward, nodding toward the painting of the young woman. There was nothing remarkable about her aside from her eyes, reminding Sabrina of how Roz’ got when she had a vision. 

“She was blind?” Sabrina asked. Her father hadn’t mentioned that.

“It's a usual consequence of prophecies,” Nick explained. “When you gain something as powerful as that you lose something else.”

“She didn’t lose it until that last month. Or at least that’s what the tales say.” Ambrose shrugged. He could never tell what was real and what had been severely embellished when anyone talked of their family.

Did his family’s house have a wall of paintings? Nick tried to remember, to push through the haze that so often surrounded everything about his past. He thought there might have been; an image of being held up to look at one coming to mind, and a woman’s voice--his mother’s, he was certain of it--telling him it was his grandmother. He couldn’t make out the painting though and when he tried to look at his mother’s face it was a blur, her voice and the scent of marigolds all he could remember. 

“Nick?” Sabrina squeezed his hand, pulling him out of his reverie and he offered up a small smile at her concern. He squeezed back, nodding for Ambrose to continue. 

They headed past a few doorways and Nick could feel Sabrina’s curiosity starting to get the better of her, grinning at the way she paused just a bit at each one, nearly opening them to see what was on the other side before continuing on after her cousin. There would be time for exploring later. They had a clue from her father to pursue, one that would hopefully lead them to actual answers and less riddles.

Ambrose stopped in the middle of the hallway and Nick looked around at the wall, trying to spot the shape that had continuously cropped up in Sabrina’s journal. It was difficult in the candlelight, the shadows dancing along the wall obscuring pieces of it with every flicker. “Here we are,” Ambrose clapped his hands together, before linking his fingers together and stretching them outward. “Ready?”

Nick spotted the mark then and felt Sabrina’s breath hitch as she did, the two of them nodding. Ambrose pressed his hand to the place before taking a step back. A section along the wall slowly swung back, revealing a passageway, candles lighting up along its walls. 

“I’m afraid it's Spellmans only from here, Nick, but if you want Uncle Edward’s study is the next door on the left. Might find a few interesting pieces in there as well while you wait for us,” Ambrose suggested as he stepped through to the other side. 

Nick nodded. He didn’t like the idea of Sabrina heading into the passageway without him, but she’d be with Ambrose and he knew her cousin would do everything to keep her protected. Not that she couldn’t protect herself, but trouble seemed to follow her. He went to let go of her hand but her grip tightened on his and Nick glanced over, noting the way she’d sucked in her breath and how she trembled as she looked at the opening.

_Spellmans only from here_.

He could see the doubt in her eyes, the endless worry that had settled over her ever since the Devil had revealed the secret of her parentage. “Cousin?” Ambrose asked, stepping back out toward them.

“What if…” Sabrina couldn’t finish the sentence, didn’t want to give weight to her thoughts, and Nick stepped back as Ambrose moved to grasp her shoulders.

“ _You_ are a Spellman,” he told her, his voice full of conviction. “Always and forever, little cousin.” He held up his pinky and Sabrina nodded at that, doing the same before they linked them. 

Slowly Ambrose led her over to the passageway, stepping across the threshold first. Sabrina took a deep breath before cautiously moving forward. She stopped right before trying anything and looked back at him. “I’ll wait for you two in the study,” Nick assured her, knowing she was still worrying.

Sabrina nodded again and turned back, taking the final step forward and over the threshold. “See, cousin?” Ambrose started, pulling her into a hug. “A Spellman.” 

Nick let out the breath he’d been holding, thankful that the magic protecting the doorway had accepted her. He could imagine the blow it would have done to her if it hadn’t. “See you in a bit, Scratch,” Ambrose called over to him and Sabrina smiled, brighter than he’d seen her do in days, before heading down the passageway.

She was a Spellman.

He knew how much having that acknowledged by magic meant to her, that sense of family that helped to sustain her. 

Family.

Nick watched the two of them round the corner, disappearing out of sight and glanced down at the portraits. The formality of them was slightly off putting as he remembered the photos in the mortuary. Black and white ones of Sabrina growing up with her aunts and cousin. There was life in those ones, smiles and laughter coming out from every one. The paintings didn’t capture that in the same way, but he could still feel a sense of love in this place.

Would he someday be up on that wall?

Nick blinked, unsure where that thought had come from, before turning away from the portraits and toward the door that Ambrose had said was Edward Spellman’s study. He rubbed his hands in anticipation as he neared it, feeling the same intrigue and giddiness washing over him as when he’d found the first of the warlock’s journals in the library. He’d poured through it, tucked back in one of the corner tables, absolutely enthralled by everything the man had written. 

The theory in it was vastly different from what he’d been learning in class, what he’d read in most of the other demonology books, but it had made sense to Nick, clicked in ways none of the others did. The magic he’d learned in those classes had come easy enough, the various spells for conjuring objects ones he’d memorized the words and movements to within weeks of taking his studies seriously. They were practically old hat by the time he’d needed to use them in classes, having spent hours in the library reading them and then longer in his private rooms to practice them. 

But none of them had flowed through him as he’d wielded them quite like Edward Spellman’s had. And he’d learned quickly not to say where he’d learned that particular wording or that sigil used to summon a demon above his level. The journals were hard enough to get hold of, not allowed out of the library unlike most of the other ones, and he didn’t want them barred from him like the mortal books he’d occasionally snuck into the Academy had been.

The chance to glimpse at what Edward Spellman had kept in another one of his studies was an opportunity that Nick wasn’t about to waste. He pushed open the study door, thankful for the distraction, and not at all prepared to see the warlock’s ghost sitting on the overstuffed chair in the middle of the room, looking as though he was waiting for him.

“Ah, there you are, Nicholas. I figured it was time we had a chat.” Edward waved his hand and the door closed behind Nick. “Just the two of us.”

* * *

“I expect to see your finished papers on my desk by nine tomorrow morning,” Zelda directed the class as she placed down her pointer. “I will not accept any that come a minute late.” Not a single one of them groaned this time, finally catching on that doing so would do little to alter her stance. 

She noted that none of them had hastily fled the classroom either as was usually the case, needing a breather before they readied for the next. They were glancing at one another, none quite looking at her, but she saw the silent urging between them, trying to get one of them to speak. She’d seen similar interactions happen at the Spellman table between Ambrose and Sabrina throughout the years.

“Spit it out, children.” She waved her hand, sending the eraser to handle the chalkboards behind her on its own.

“It just…” Plutonius started, voice trailing off as he glanced at the others.

“We may have a problem, Mother Spellman,” Morgainne added, wringing her hands in front of her.

“Oh?” Zelda worked to keep her tone neutral. Was it too much to ask that at least one child under her guidance not cause issues?

“You haven’t noticed anything....off about your magic?” another one piped up, most of the others nodding along.

That wasn’t anything close to what Zelda had anticipated them asking and she moved forward, crossing her arms as she leaned against the front table. “What do you mean?”

Answers erupted from nearly all of them, one after the other recounting magical mishaps. 

“I feel like I can barely light a candle without feeling drained for an hour.”

“My divination spells are barely working and I specialize in those.”

“I tried a simple glamor spell and it held for less than five minutes.”

“Lucky. Mine didn’t even last one.”

“And you’re all noticing these occurrences?” Zelda asked, scanning the crowd. She’d noticed that not all of them had joined in and watched as Melvin, Elspeth, Dorcas and Agatha shook their heads. The sisters looked smug with their answer while the other two exuded an air of uncertainty. 

“We’ll look into this matter,” Zelda assured them as she pushed off from the table and stepped closer to their desks. “For now, rest. You have all been through significant trauma. It will take time for your bodies to be at the strength to wield them as you did before. We’ll work on a solution until then.”

That seemed to assuage them for a bit. If she wasn’t worried then there was no reason for them to be as well. “Dorcas, Agatha, Melvin and Elspeth, stay. Everyone else go enjoy the weather while you can or better yet, start on your assignment.”

The others filed out of the class, chattering away to one another and Zelda waited until the last was gone before turning her attention to the remaining four. “Explain.” 

“It's not like the Dark Lord can gift us our powers anymore,” Agatha replied with a shrug.

“So we switched to Sabrina,” Dorcas added, and Zelda found she really didn’t like the girl’s smile.

“You felt that power boost she gave all of us when we helped out Nick. _Nothing_ he’s given us has ever felt like that,” Agatha pointed and Zelda did remember it. There had been no withholding of power in what Sabrina had pushed through them. It had been exhilarating and part of her yearned to feel that strength again.  
“I think we both have just been unconsciously worshiping Sabrina since she brought us back,” Melvin murmured and Elspeth nodded beside him.

“How could we not?” the girl asked. 

“If anything I feel stronger,” Agatha continued. “More in tune with my magic. Why do we even keep up the pretense of worshipping the Dark Lord? We all know he isn’t in charge any longer.”

“None of us know the consequences of switching to a new…” Zelda didn’t even know what to call it. “Power source.” She hated to call it that considering that was Sabrina. “Witches did so at one point eons ago, from the old gods to Satan.”

“And that seemed to have worked out pretty well for us,” Dorcas suggested. “We became more powerful because of it.”

“With Sabrina in the seat we’re even more so,” Agatha grinned at her sister. “Or is this because you don’t know the consequences for how it will affect _her_?”

“Negatively affecting your newfound power source would be a tragic mistake,” Zelda told her, gaze cutting to the girl. “Plenty of witch families died out because their deities disappeared.”

That seemed to drop the two sisters down a bit, both of them sinking back against their seats. “We need to tread lightly. The last thing any of us want is for magic to be gone completely.” 

Which had happened to countless families when the changeover between the old gods and Satan had occurred. Though none of them had known why it had occurred, just rumors told through the surviving ones throughout the centuries. Bits and pieces of tales repeated after other covens died out through the ages, their power suddenly gone. Displeasing the Dark Lord never ended well for any warlock or witch. 

Sabrina might have been on the seat of Hell but she was still learning everything that encompassed. Did she even truly know how to dole out power? She’d given boosts to them when helping Nicholas but Zelda hadn’t seen any sign of her continuing with that yet. The four seemed to think they were immune to the steady decrease in magic that the others and even she was feeling but so far Zelda hadn’t seen any proof of that. 

Melvin and Elspeth were hardly moderately gifted at best, neither pushing past the boundaries of their magic. She’d need to watch the sisters a bit more closely, compare what they managed with how Prudence fared. Zelda doubted the other girl was worshipping her niece.

“I’ll look into it. For now, I suggest we keep this to ourselves.” The last thing they needed was for the others to start doing so as well before Zelda could ensure doing so wouldn’t hurt Sabrina. “It would be a shame if you depleted whatever magical resources you’ve managed to gather up until now.”

They all nodded, though Zelda didn’t like the smug look at that passed between the two sisters, and turned to go. “Agatha and Dorcas, if you think for a moment that Sabrina wouldn’t strip you of everything you have for harming another you have gravely underestimated my niece,” Zelda warned, watching the two stumble at her words, knowing the truth of her statement. 

“Yes, Mother Spellman,” they muttered before hurrying out after the other two.

Zelda watched them go and turned back to the boards, frowning at the haphazard job the erasers had done of it. She was going to need to look through the family journals and see if she could glimpse anything of that era of change that could help Sabrina and the coven now.

* * *

It was surreal to be in the same room as the ghost of the man Nick had devoured every bit of knowledge about that he possibly could over the last few years. He’d stumbled upon the first journal of Edward Spellman’s on a stack of books Cassius had set aside to put away while he’d searched out another book to lend to Nick. It had been among a set of others that one of the older students had been taking notes from, comparing different demonology theories, and Nick had snapped it up, wanting to take a look after hearing a few of the older students talk about it. 

He had been enthralled, tucked back in his usual corner of the library, unable to put it down once he’d started and it wasn’t until Cassius finally had to close up for the night that Nick had reluctantly put it down, tucking it behind the bookcase closest to his chair in order to continue it the next day. It had taken months to get the next one, the journals deemed inappropriate for someone his age, their rhetoric dangerous and unnecessary for someone just learning the basics of demonology. 

So Nick had studied every other book in the library on the subject, learned them cover to cover and excelled faster than anyone else at the Academy had managed in such a short time. The whispers about him surpassing Edward Spellman’s own trajectory at such a young age had been floated about and while Father Blackwood had taken an interest in him before because he was an orphaned warlock from a well-known family those murmurs had caught his attention even more so. 

He’d tried to take Nick under his wing, to instill his belief system in him, but Nick had never fallen for the rhetoric, his jumbled memories of his own upbringing contradicting everything Blackwood stood for. But he used the situation to his advantage, manipulated the interest in him to get access to the things he wanted, such as the journals. 

It never did save the mortal books he managed to sneak in from time to time. Every single one of those ended with a lecture while the book burned in the fire behind them. But it had been worth it, his mind satiated for a little while before the need to know more took over.

Edward nodded toward the chest behind the desk. “You’ll find the key behind the bookcase, right side.”

Nick moved, slipping his hand down the back of it before snagging the key from its place. He walked back to the chest and opened it, not sure what he was looking for at first. “At the bottom,” Edward continued, and Nick shifted through the keepsakes in it, a black and white photograph of Sabrina’s mother, a tattered teddy bear, a small white dress that he thought might have fit an infant--was it Sabrina’s? He moved more things aside before finding the large book at the bottom. 

“Spelman familia liber fieri daemoniorum,” Nick read the latin on the cover as he pulled it out. 

Nick placed it on the desk, carefully opening it, steeling himself for what was inside. Sketches of various demons, incantations, binding spells, weaknesses, strengths, everything was laid out beside them. Which circle of Hell they were usually inside, allies and enemies, their origins. He’d glimpsed pieces of each throughout the books in the Academy library but nothing with this much detail. 

“Why me?” Nick asked as he looked up at the warlock. Why had he led him to this book? Why had he wanted him to find it and not Sabrina? Or Ambrose? 

“Everything in nature is about balance,” Edward told him as he rose, coming to stand beside Nick, though his attention was one the items in the chest and not the book. “Life, death. Night and day. Yin and yang. Heaven and Hell. Witch and mortal. They can exist without one another but together they are truly whole.”

Nick frowned, none of that was what he’d expected to hear. Not that he was entirely certain what he’d expected. “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” Edward replied before turning to look at the book. “It took me several centuries of research to learn all that I did, to create what I could. Several other warlocks and witches have attempted my methods. Even Faustus did once or twice but he could never quite get it right. Too much hubris in his own ways. But you managed to accomplish what I strove to do in a matter of years.”

“I didn’t figure out the acheron,” Nick pointed out. He’d tried, had felt like such a failure when he’d been unable to accomplish that.

“You weren’t supposed to,” Edward flipped the pages in the book, stopping on the one about the Plague Kings. “That was meant for Sabrina to do.” Nick looked down at the page, trying to glimpse some meaning from it, to figure out why he was showing him this one. “You were meant to be able to bind the Devil.”

Everything inside of Nick froze at that sentence, his breath catching in his throat. “There is no other warlock or witch who would be able to do so,” Edward continued, turning to the next page.

“We seem to have done alright with the new way,” Nick bit out, replaying the words in his head. _Meant to_. As if it had been his destiny to have the devil inside of him. The idea made his stomach turn and he dug his nails into his palms, using the pain to settle it.

“Have you?” Edward asked as he moved away from the book and Nick watched him glide away. What did that mean? Satan was trapped in Hell. Wasn’t he? Of course he was. They would all be dead if he had somehow managed to escape.

“Think of what would have occurred if you hadn’t been able to trap him, Nicholas,” Edward started as he sat back down on the chair. Nick didn’t move from his spot by the book. “There would have been a war between Heaven and Hell. They would never have allowed Lucifer to conquer what is supposed to be neutral ground. Mortal and witch alike would have been decimated as they battled it out.”

“Why don’t they take on Hell then?” Wouldn’t that make sense if they thought Lucifer was causing trouble.

“Balance. Heaven has no say in Hell. They only will if they try to take on Earth,” Edward replied. “But the balance has been off-kilter for centuries now though. It needed to be restored.”

“She’s _sixteen_ ,” Nick protested, realizing he was talking about Sabrina. 

Edward sighed. “I know.” 

Nick stared at the man, uncertain why he’d ever looked up to him. “Do you? Do you really see the burden you’ve put on her shoulders with this?” That she was barely keeping it together? That all of them were drowning in this new order that they had been thrust into? 

“It needed to be done,” Edward stated, his expression impassive.

“You sold out your daughter,” Nick spat out, eyes narrowing as he took in the man. 

Edward shook his head at that. “I saved her.”

Nick scoffed. They clearly had different definitions of saved. “How? She’s still Queen of Hell. Weight of the world on her shoulders.”

“Without Lucifer to reign over it with her,” Edward pointed out. “Without him to manipulate and tear down who she can choose to become, what she can do to strike a balance again with Hell. There was no stopping his prophecy, the wheels of time had already begun spinning setting that in motion. Sabrina would be born. Sabrina would rule. But she did not have to become the tyrant that Lucifer wanted her to be.”

Nick shook his head, rage bubbling away inside of him at everything he was being told. How could this man who claimed to love Sabrina not see the impossible situation he’d put her in? “It's too much for her to rule alone.”

Edward stared at Nick then, confusion evident in his expression. “Who said anything about her doing it alone?”

What? What did that mean? 

The candles in the room turned red though, shifting Nick’s attention to that, wondering what could have caused that to happen. It was an alert of some sort, but Nick didn’t know what. 

“Witch hunters,” Edward muttered as he rose. “You’ll need the book. Make sure you have it when you leave. My daughter and nephew should be finished with their own task in a few minutes. I suggest meeting them in the passageway and closing the door behind you.”

“I’m not a Spellman. Only family can get through,” Nick reminded. He couldn’t get into the passageway because of the magic barrier.

“Aren’t you family?” Edward disappeared, leaving Nick to stare at the place he had been. 

The red flames darkened in color and Nick figured it had to do with proximity. He closed the chest and locked it again before grabbing the book and heading toward the passageway. Nick heard glass breaking near the front and the screech of bats answering the intrusion. There were shouts from the men, voices slightly closer than before, and Nick knew the last thing he wanted was for the hunters to locate this room. 

_Aren’t you family?_

The words replayed in his mind, his gut twisting at them. He hadn’t had a family in years, not really. Not since his parents' deaths. Amalia had tried, she’d cared and protected him, but her love couldn’t replace that of the parents that he still ached for in his darker moments.

The candles flickered, the red darkening another shade, and he glimpsed Sabrina’s portrait, smiling at how the toddler pouted, the same expression that she had now when she did.

_Sabrina_. 

_She_ was his family. Wherever she went he would follow.

Nick took a deep breath, expecting to be tossed back by the barrier as he stepped forward, but it let him through. 

He would think about the implications of that later.

“Claudat ostia,” he muttered, closing the passageway door behind him before heading down to find the other two.

* * *

Hilda laughed, shaking her head at the joke Dr. Cee made. With everything happening back at the mortuary and Academy, coming into work was her moment of peace. She felt as though she could breathe, that everything wasn’t one calamity building upon another. The feeling wouldn’t last, vanishing as soon as she stepped foot back home, but it was a nice respite in the meantime. She straightened the collar of his cape, turning at the sound of the chime alerting them to customers.

“Miss Spellman?” Roz called out, and Hilda knew that tone. She’d heard it many times over the years, indicating usually that there was some important matter that her and Sabrina needed to discuss with her. But her niece wouldn’t be with the girl, off handling some matter of Hell instead, and Hilda’s heart broke a little at the thought.

It was too much. She’d never think otherwise.

“How can I help you, Rosalind?” Hilda asked, poking her head around the bookshelf and spotting the girl with the other part of the trio. 

They glanced over their shoulders and around the store, their frantic looks sparking her worry. “Can we talk? In private?” Roz continued and Hilda nodded, motioning for them to follow her into the back office. 

It was a tight space, boxes piled on top of one another, various props and items not displayed haphazardly placed around. “Something weird happened at school,” Theo started, shoving his hands into his pocket.

“Like weirder than usual,” Harvey added. Weird had sort of become their normal. “Kids were talking about witches and curse on the town because of the thing with the mine and then people’s crops and animals dying.”

“I had a vision,” Roz added. “There were pitchforks and a mob. Burning buildings. It looked like something out of a movie.” 

Hilda’s heartbeat sped up at the news. She’d seen such scenes play out before in her life, knew entirely too many people who had died because of them. “And my dad was ranting in them,” Roz continued, and that addition only added to Hilda’s trepidation. It never ended well for a town when any sort of clergyman got involved. “Horrible things about witches and eradicating the town of them.”

“They can’t know there’s real witches, right?” Theo asked, looking around at everyone. Their town might be full of superstitions but they didn’t seem to believe in them all that much. 

“The Academy is warded, right?” Harvey added. “And your house?”

“It’s not often the witches who are harmed when mortals decide to have a hunt,” Hilda pointed out. There were always a few caught up in the insanity--the Greendale Thirteen were proof enough of that--but it was more likely to be the mortals on the outskirts that caught the worst of the action. 

They looked at one another, none of them comfortable with the answer. “What can we do?” Theo asked. There had to be something.

“We don’t know what exactly is happening. So keep your ears to the ground, find out who is whispering and where they’re getting their information from.” Hilda turned her attention to Roz as the boys nodded. “Do you think you can try and get some sort of vision off your father?”

“I’ll try. I don’t know how to make them happen.” Could she even direct them like that? There was so much she didn’t understand about her cunning. 

“Just try. Anything you can glimpse will give us a better picture of what we’re dealing with and why.” Hilda couldn’t understand what would have led the town to believing in curses with what was happening. Something was behind this, plucking at the strings of disharmony and letting them ripple outward. 

Roz nodded, the three of them looking slightly better than they had been. “How’s…” Theo paused, glancing at the others before resuming. “How’s Brina?”

“She’s alright, love, busy,” Hilda smiled, trying to assuage their worry. It was probably best not to explain what she was currently busy doing. “You’re having a sleepover in a few days, yes?”

“Yeah, scary movies and as much junk food as our stomachs can handle.” Roz grinned, bumping against Theo who smiled too. 

“Everything okay back here?” Dr. Cee asked as he peeked into the backroom, arching a brow at Hilda. They all nodded while she mouthed ‘tell you later’. “Then come on. Fries on the house. You three look like you could use it.”

Hilda smiled at him as the trio thanked him while heading out of the room and toward the diner part of the building. “Someone’s playing a very dangerous game,” Hilda explained as he hovered by the doorway, waiting for her to exit as well. 

“Guess they don’t know how dangerous your family is when messed with,” Cee commented before kissing her gently. 

He was right, whoever was pulling the strings was definitely underestimating the Spellmans and that was never a good idea.

“I better get started on those fries,” Hilda murmured before tapping his nose. They could discuss everything Roz had told her later on when they closed the store for the night. And then she would have to fill in the rest of the family.

* * *

Sabrina placed her hands on her hips as she looked around the stone room, letting out an exasperated sigh as they still hadn’t found anything important. They had moved countless boxes, ones holding various items of importance to Spellmans throughout the ages, but nothing that got her any closer to uncovering Priscilla’s prophecy. What had been the point of repeatedly drawing the knob of wood if it wasn’t meant to lead them there and to something that would help lead them forward?

“Can _nothing_ be simple anymore?” she groaned, letting her head fall back.

Ambrose was looking at the bookshelf carved into the wall, his eyes narrowing as he took it in and she glanced over at it, trying to determine what was so interesting about it. “Aperti ianuam,” he finally said and Sabrina’s mouth opened in awe as it slid backward, revealing another room. “I knew something was off with the breeze in this room.”

“Hopefully it doesn’t lead us to another secret passageway and this isn’t just one after the other.” It really wouldn’t surprise her if that was the case. Everything seemed to be shrouded in secrecy when it came to her father nowadays.

“Such defeatist talk,” Ambrose chided, shaking his head at her as they stepped inside the room, muttering the familiar spell to light the candles. “Unholy shit.”

Sabrina stepped in after him, wondering what had caused that reaction, nearly tripping over Ambrose as she spotted the paintings on the wall. It was similar to the mural back in Greendale that Theo and Harvey had found in the mines. Her eyes were white, but instead of the wreath of thorns a crown sat on her head. It wasn’t minions of Hell around her but witch and mortal, their depictions similar to other paintings she’d seen in history books at the Academy.

The most startling part was the face beside hers, crown on his head, looking just as regal as she did. While she was bathed in Hellfire, he was surrounded by sunlight. Witches and mortals were around him as well, moving between the two paintings. Their hands were clasped together in the picture, a light coming from it that Sabrina couldn’t give name to, but she’d felt it before. 

Everytime she bolstered Nick’s power that was the color the world seemed to become around her, flitting just out of view when they joined hands and worked together to do something. She’d felt it the first time during the Top Boy competition, that duality of power that flowed between them as they had called upon the Plague Kings.

“Nick,” she breathed out, trying to make sense of the images. She’d know those eyes anywhere. 

“Sabrina?” Nick’s voice called out, startling both her and Ambrose. He sounded close, which didn’t make any sense. How had he gotten past the barrier?

He skidded into the room, spotting the images as well, his eyes widening in confusion as he took them in before shaking his head. “We have a problem,” he told them.

“How did you get in here?” Ambrose asked, staring at Nick. Had the magic of the barrier faded?

“What problem?” Sabrina asked, trying to get to the important part. 

“Is that us?” Nick asked, unable to tear his gaze away from the images. His eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, were they?

“I think so?” Sabrina shrugged, unsure of anything right then. 

“You said there was a problem?” Ambrose reminded, still trying to figure out how the other warlock had managed to get inside.

“Witch hunters,” Nick started, forcing himself to focus on their immediate danger. “The candles upstairs, the flames turned red. And they broke in. I heard bats but I don’t know how long that will stop them or what they’re even after.”

“Oh bloody Heaven,” Ambrose muttered, raking his hands through his hair. “It could be anything with that lot. Get those paintings.” He looked around the room, trying to see if anything else stood out that needed to be taken. “What do you have?”

“Spellman demonology book,” Nick held it up for them to see before looking at Sabrina who was carefully taking the paintings from their spot. “Your dad told me where to find it.”

“My dad was here?” Sabrina handed him the pages and he slipped them into the book to better protect them. “Why?”

“He wanted to talk.” There was so much to explain, to think about, but it would have to wait. 

“We can just teleport out, right?” Sabrina asked, looking between the two. 

“If they got this far they’re after something and whatever it is, Sabrina, we can’t let them have it,” Ambrose told her. “There’s too much history here, too much that could lead them to countless places, endangering many.”

“We have to destroy it,” Nick said. They couldn’t afford to let anything inside of the house get out into the world.

“How could they have gotten in anyway? You said there were wards and you had to do that spell on Nick earlier,” Sabrina pointed out, trying to make sense of it. But he’d managed to come into the passageway...nothing made sense anymore.

“They might have been tipped off about the location,” Ambrose sighed, all of the possibilities weighing in his mind. “Blackwood was out there doing who knows what for too long. He could have set something in motion.”

Silence fell between them at that, knowing the truth to his words. He exited the room briefly heading back into the other and Sabrina looked at Nick. There was so much that needed to be said and talked about, but she didn’t even know where to begin.

“I know,” Nick assured her, reaching over to brush her cheek with one hand like he’d done so many times before. She leaned into his touch, sliding her fingers into his shirt, to hold onto him as she nodded. It would be okay, they could figure this out.

“We’ll teleport to the hill just beyond the house and do what we must,” Ambrose continued holding out his hands to them. They each grasped one of his before doing as he suggested and ending up on the hill.

Nick placed the book down beside them as Ambrose set up the candles he’d retrieved from the other room, having them float between the three of them as they took hold of one another’s hands again, forming a circle around the candles with their bodies. 

“Here comes a candle to light you to bed,” Ambrose started to sing, the other two joining in with him once they knew which spell they were doing. “And here comes a chopper to chop off your head.”

The lights flickered black inside of the house, screams erupting from inside before cutting off into silence. With each word the three sang the mortals heads twisted and they fell to the ground, dead. “Chop, chop, chop, chop, the last man’s dead!” the three finished. 

“Now, Sabrina,” Ambrose told her and she turned toward the manor, rising slightly in the air as she let her Hell powers flow through her.

She brought the building down, leaving no stone unturned as it crushed and broke under her strength. Hellfire moved through it, destroying everything in its wake that wasn’t crushed by the crumbling stones. Nothing would be pulled from the rubble. No trace left of witchcraft anywhere to be found. 

She knew it was safer that way for everyone, but part of her ached at never getting to know this house. Ambrose had grown up there, her Aunt Hilda had lived there for a time, maybe the others had as well. So many questions unanswered. So many memories torn down to nothing. 

Her cousin faltered onto the hill, sitting down and plucking at the grass, throwing it into the air as he watched the Hellfire begin to wane, smoke billowing from the rubble. Sabrina sat down beside him, pulling him into a hug. He shook slightly against her but she saw no tears as he clung tightly to her. 

They stayed like that for several minutes, Nick sitting beside them, before Ambrose finally sighed, not wanting to watch it anymore. Everything was gone in minutes, lifetimes of possessions eradicated from the world. It wasn’t fair.

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed a glimpse of what Priscilla's prophecy is about. 
> 
> More on that next chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I held off on posting because this weekend needed a different focus and the world still does. But I also know that art can help heal and distractions from time to time are vital right now for self-care. So I hope this helps out anyone who needed a bit of a distraction before diving back into the world today.

_You could rattle the stars.  
You could do anything, if you only dared.  
And deep down, you know it too,  
and that’s what scares you the most.  
_

Zelda took another long drag of her cigarette, replaying Hilda’s everything Hilda had just told her and Prudence. “You’re saying Roz is having visions of a possible witch hunt.” She flicked the ash into the tray, glancing over at Salem who meowed as the clock chimed, indicating the new hour. “And where _is_ your master?” Surely Sabrina should have finished with her duties by then. Not to mention the two warlocks that were currently also missing.

She had a feeling the three of them were off somewhere together, _without_ having altered the rest of them, and there would be Heaven to pay if that were the case.

“You know she doesn’t see their relationship in that way,” Hilda reminded as Salem jumped up onto her lap before moving onto the other question at Zelda’s look. “It has all the standard signs of one. Pitchforks. Burning. People muttering about witches. Clergy ranting and raving.”

“They're just mortals,” Prudence said. Even if their coven’s numbers had been sorely depleted they should be able to handle a town of mortals. Protection spells, glamours. There was no reason for any of them to be found. It wasn’t like they were witch hunters.

“So were the townsfolk that killed the Greendale Thirteen,” Zelda pointed out, watching Prudence deflate a little at that reminder. It never ended well for a witch if they underestimated the harm a careless mortal could cause. “Add in the fact that the coven’s powers seem to be waning and this could be a problem.”

“That’s a definite thing then?” Hilda pressed her lips together, pausing in her petting before Salem nudged her hand to resume.

Zelda turned her attention back to her sister. “You’ve noticed your powers have been off balance then, Hilda?” Why hadn’t she said anything, confided in her? 

“I chalked it up to stress at first.” So much had been going on. A little magical fatigue wasn’t that unlikely to be the cause.

“Ambrose and I just thought we were overly tired from being on the road and barely sleeping,” Prudence murmured, confirming Zelda’s suspicions that the two of them had been affected as well. Now they just needed to see if Nick was as well.

“Yes, I believe we all came up with a myriad of excuses for what it could be,” Zelda stubbed the cigarette out, tempted to get another one to stave off the headache she could feel forming. “The students have begun to notice as well. Well, most of them.”

“What do you mean most of them?” Hilda asked, moving Salem off her lap as the kettle let out a whistle. “Shouldn’t all of them be experiencing the loss?” He yowled his annoyance as he dropped to the floor, sliding between the legs of Zelda’s seat before wandering toward the bed in the far corner. 

Tea cups floated across to the table, setting themselves into place in front of the other two and her own seat as she returned with the kettle and box of various tea mixes. Zelda took a peppermint one placing it inside of her cup as the water was poured in. “It appears that a few have already begun worshipping Sabrina.”

“Worshipping Sabrina?” Prudence asked, eyes widening at the thought of it. The girl had power, it was true, but _worshipping her_? She couldn’t wrap her head around it. 

“It could be a side effect of the Dark Lord being locked away. He no longer holds the key to our abilities. Or…” Zelda replied, handing the box of teas to her.

“Do we even know if this is happening to other covens? Or is just ours?” Hilda asked as she sat down, pouring her own water before setting the kettle on the tea cozy.

“That does seem to be the question,” Zelda sighed, adding in a spoon to start stirring the water.

“Who’s worshipping Sabrina?” Prudence asked, needing to know which of her fellow students she was going to need to keep a closer eye on.

“Melvin, Elspeth. Your sisters,” Zelda replied, waving the tray of biscuits closer to her.

Prudence narrowed her eyes. “They didn’t even mention it.” The little traitors. How dare they keep something as big as this from her.

“I’m not certain we want to be poking other covens for information just yet,” Zelda continued, dipping her cookie into the tea. “They’ll have questions I don’t think any of us want to answer.”

“No. It would not be good for us if they learned what we did to the Dark Lord,” Hilda conceded. Especially if their powers were also waning. Or would it be worse if they weren’t? She didn’t want to focus on that at the moment. One problem at a time.

“So are we switching to worshipping Sabrina then?” Prudence asked, still stuck on that point of the conversation.

“It's being considered,” Zelda told her, understanding the girl’s trepidation with that idea. She wasn’t completely sold on it herself though her reasoning for that was most likely vastly different than Prudence’s. 

Silence fell among the three at her words, all of them contemplating the ramifications and meanings of that scenario happening. The sound of the clock ticking in the corner and Salem batting one of his shiny toys from the cat bed filling up the room. 

It didn’t last for long as Ambrose, Sabrina and Nick appeared in the kitchen. They didn’t look as though they had been physically harmed but there was a definite air of distress about the three of them.

“What is going on?” Zelda demanded as the three of them turned toward the others, confirming her suspicions that something had been going on. 

Ambrose crossed the kitchen, retrieving scotch from the cabinet before sitting down at the table, pouring it into the teacup he floated over as the other two sat down beside one another. Hilda was ready to lecture him over that when he spoke. “The manor is gone, Aunties.”

“What do you mean the manor is gone?” Zelda asked. Surely she had heard that wrong.

“How can the manor be gone? It’s an entire estate. They don’t just disappear,” Hilda added, watching him down the cup of scotch before pouring himself another. 

He held the bottle toward the other two. Sabrina shook her head and Nick followed half a beat later. “We had to destroy it,” Sabrina told them, only adding to the confusion.

“Destroy it?” Hilda pressed a hand to her mouth, certain that couldn’t have been the case.

“Explain, Ambrose," Zelda demanded, looking between the three of them. “That house has been in this family in some form or another for longer than any of us have been on this Earth. There’s no replacing what’s inside of it.”

“Witch hunters got in,” Nick explained, and Zelda snapped her mouth shut at that. 

“We think Blackwood might have given them the way,” Sabrina murmured, pushing two teacups toward Ambrose to fill. Maybe some scotch wasn’t such a bad idea. 

Zelda shook her head, trying to make sense of what they were being told. Blackwood wouldn’t know how to break past the barriers of the Spellman manor...except. Yes. He might. She remembered him drawing information out of her during those weeks she’d been married to him. She emptied her tea and slid her cup toward Ambrose as well. 

“I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that Faustus manages to try and ruin our lives from beyond the grave.” She moved, retrieving another cigarette before turning back to the others. Prudence had joined in on the scotch drinking, only Hilda sipping away at her tea. “Why were the three of you at the manor in the first place?”

Ambrose looked over at Sabrina and Nick who were glancing at one another. Nick placed a book on the table, one that Zelda recognized as having belonged to Edward. He’d been meticulous in keeping his various notes about demons inside of it. She had never located it after he died. But it was the two paintings that he pulled out and set down before all of them that had Zelda slowly sitting back down, cigarette forgotten. Hilda reached over to her, grasping her hand as they took in the images before them.

“We found my father’s prophecy,” Sabrina murmured, resting her elbows on the table as she buried her hands in her hair. “Or, I guess Aunt Priscilla’s prophecy.”

“Is that Nick?” Prudence picked up the one with him on it, 

“We think so,” Ambrose murmured, downing his scotch. Hilda snagged the bottle away from him, motioning to the kettle.

“It looks just like you. It even has your big nose,” Prudence told him before passing the paper over to the aunts.

“Yeah, thanks, Pru,” Nick muttered, rubbing his hand along Sabrina’s back. 

“And this is it? Nothing written anywhere, just these paintings?” Zelda asked, picking up the one with Sabrina depicted on it before glancing down at the other.

“That’s all we could find,” Ambrose told her, and silence fell among them all, no one quite sure what to say. 

“I’m tired,” Sabrina murmured, staring at the table. “It’s been a day. Can we just...figure this out later?” All she wanted to do was curl up in bed, hold onto Nick and try to not think about anything for a few hours.

“How did your duties go?” Zelda asked, placing the painting back down.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sabrina muttered, her guilt rising again. It was okay, she had a plan. It would take time but she’d figure out how to help that man and the countless others who were in Hell for non-nefarious reasons.

“I can fill them in,” Ambrose replied, patting her arm and Zelda nodded.

“Do you want me to bring you up some tea?” Hilda asked, but Sabrina shook her head as she rose, Nick following suit. 

He took hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze as the two of them left the kitchen, Salem following after them. 

“What did she have to do, Ambrose?” Zelda asked, listening to them head up the stairs and the door to Sabrina’s bedroom closing. 

“Collect the soul of a father who sold his to save his daughter,” Ambrose muttered, snagging one of the cookies since the scotch bottle was still out of reach.

“Oh dear,” Hilda sighed, finally pouring herself some of the alcohol before sliding the bottle back to the middle of the table.

“We talked about creating a new circle of Hell. _Not_ using Earth like the Dark Lord wanted, but her own, down there.” Or wherever it was located. “She’s going to draft a plan and then have you look over it.”

Zelda arched a brow at that, pleased that her niece hadn’t jumped head first into the idea like she would have done a few weeks ago. “Good. I’ll be able to steer her away from her more impossible ideas.”

Hilda reached over and touched the paintings. The likenesses were remarkable and she could feel the weight of what the images meant. “What the Heaven was Edward playing at?” 

“This has to be a joke, right?” Prudence asked, fixated on the one of Nick. Sabrina’s she understood. The girl was queen of Hell, there had already been another prophecy involving her, and it had been found in a Spellman house. But Nick… “He couldn’t have known about Nick.”

“It is a prophecy, Prudence,” Ambrose reminded, pouring himself another cup of scotch. “Nothing about them is reasonable.” 

“And this isn’t Edward’s painting style,” Zelda told them before taking a sip of her own.

“No, it's Aunt Priscilla’s. We have another of her paintings in the manor in a similar style with the colors and brushstrokes,” Hilda remembered, before pausing. “Or I suppose we did.”

Ambrose scowled at that, taking a long drink, though he refrained from drinking it all at Hilda’s look. Everything was gone. His parents' paintings, the ones of countless Spellmans throughout the ages, his father’s clothes. He had their wedding rings upstairs in the attic though, an old black and white photograph of the two before they had been murdered, but all the other pieces of his past were destroyed, never to be looked at again.

Hilda reached over to pat his hand and he felt Prudence’s foot slide against his calf, though she wasn’t looking at him, her attention focused on the teacup in front of her as she bit into a cookie. 

“This--” Zelda tapped the joined hands in the paintings, pulling all of their attention back to it. “Joining powers, creating something new.” 

“They are supposed to bring about the Age of the Morningstar,” Ambrose reminded. Not just Sabrina, it seemed. 

“It could help the coven,” Zelda continued and all of them looked at her.

“Help the…?” Ambrose started, not sure what she meant.

“Our powers are being depleted,” Zelda replied, and Ambrose nodded. Ah, yes, that. “I’m not sure how they reach this point though to where they would combine.”

“A question for another day, Auntie.” Ambrose rose, glancing over at Prudence who steadfastly ignored him, eating her cookie. “I think the other two had the right idea.” 

He nodded to the aunts, a little unsteady on his feet, before heading off toward the attic. Prudence rose a few seconds later, nodding to the two of them as well before following after him. 

“We may be overthinking the joining,” Hilda started after hearing Ambrose’s door close. 

“Perhaps.” Zelda picked up the paintings, trying to glimpse new insight from them. There was always more than could be seen on first glance when prophecies were involved.

* * *

“Hey, dad,” Roz greeted as she set her backpack down on the kitchen chair, noting that her mother didn’t seem to be home. There were only two places set at the table, hers and his.

“It’s just us tonight. Your mother was called in,” he told her as he moved to retrieve the glasses and set those out beside the plates of meatloaf and vegetables.

“That’s happening a lot more lately.” She’d been called in on both of her nights off which wasn’t normal for their small town, but nothing seemed to be going like it usually did in Greendale. 

“The good lord has a plan for us all,” Reverend Walker reminded, before nodding at Roz’s hands. 

She excused herself to wash up, taking her time in the tiny bathroom to steel herself for what she needed to try and do. If only she’d had more time with her grandma to understand their cunning, to learn all that she could about how it worked, about how to utilize it in a more meaningful way. She hadn’t found anything in the boxes they had collected from her grandma’s room, nothing of importance aside from the few photographs of Walkers throughout the years. Finding a manual was probably too much to have hoped for, but she couldn’t help wishing that it had been that easy.

“Did Grandma ever keep a diary or anything similar?” Roz asked as she sat down, wincing a little at blurting her question out. _Way to be smooth_.

“Just her bible. As she should,” her father replied and Roz nodded, pushing around her carrots.

“Do we have it?” she continued before taking a bite, trying to act like it was a casual question, nothing for him to hone in on.

“I believe its in my study. Do you want it?” he asked, watching her closely. 

“I’d like to have a piece of her and I think that could be a good one.” Roz looked up at him, noting the way he watched her, trying to see what her intentions were. “Help me feel close to her while reading the scripture.”

Reverend Walker smiled at that, nodding along to her words. “I think that’s an excellent idea, Rosalind. She would have loved to share her love for the Lord with you in this way.”

He headed off to retrieve it and Roz watched him go before hurriedly picking up his fork, then his knife. _Nothing_. No flashback. No images of any kind came forth like she’d hoped. She touched his glass and closed her eyes, willing the cunning to start working, for it to give her something that would coincide with the vision she’d had earlier. But her mind was simply her own and she dropped back against her seat with a sigh, scooping up some of the meatloaf onto her fork when she heard his footsteps nearing.

Reverend Walker set the bible down beside her before giving her shoulder a squeeze and Rosalind’s world stopped in that moment, her mind catapulted to days earlier. 

She spotted her father at the church, could feel the fear that had enveloped him as someone talked to him about a daughter. The words were jumbled though and she shifted around as best she could in the images, working to get a better look at who was talking.

Her insides froze as she spotted the Devil, remembering him from that failed coronation attempt, and watched as he leaned in, instilling too many horrible ideas into her father’s head. 

“Rosalind?” her father called, his voice pulling her out of the visions and she scrunched her nose, smiling up at him. “Is everything okay?”

“Just a headache,” she assured him. “I think catching up on sleep will help it.”

He nodded, heading back to his seat, and Roz looked down at her plate, mentally calculating how much time she had until she could get out of the house without being noticed. Because she needed to head over to the Spellman place and tell them what she’d found out.

Lucifer wasn’t in Hell.

* * *

Sabrina and Nick walked through the forest, not really having a destination in mind, their feet simply carrying them forward. They had started off side by side, Sabrina’s arms crossed against her chest and his hands in his pockets, neither of them speaking, but it hadn’t taken long for them to reach out for one another, holding hands. They needed the contact, simply walking side by side no longer enough.

Daylight stretched out before them, the edges of it beginning to wane as dusk started to settle over the trees. There were new buds in them, more animals coming out of their various burrows and hiding places as spring took root, pushing up through the ground. The renewal of life moved all around them and Nick linked their fingers together, tugging her over toward a small clearing. 

They sat down on the grass, legs brushing up against one another as they stared out at the woods. Nick rested his hand on her thigh and Sabrina leaned against him, neither wanting to be the one to start this conversation.

“I’m sorry you got pulled into this mess,” she breathed out, closing her eyes briefly, but images of the paintings came to mind and she sighed, looking back out at the trees.

“Sabrina,” Nick started, his heart aching, knowing she was blaming herself for things that were out of her control.

“I don’t care what it says or what it might even mean, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Nick.” They both didn’t need to endure having their lives planned out for them, no real choice in any of it. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. She found herself hating Edward Spellman in that moment almost as much as she hated the Dark Lord. 

“Do you think I honestly want to be anywhere but at your side?” Nick asked, trying to get her to look at him. 

“But what if that’s not what you actually really want...what if…” What if none of it was real, just created by a prophecy that they had no say in? Except her heart yearned for him. When he was gone she’d ached to have him near again, for him to be safe. Learning he’d been following the Dark Lord’s orders to get close to her had cut unlike anything else, even learning that the Dark Lord was her birth father. 

“Hey.” He caught her chin, tugging her to look at him. There were tears on her lashes as she gazed down, lower lip trembling with the emotions that she tried to bury. “Those paintings don’t say that I had to fall in love with you.”

“We don’t know what they say. Not really,” she murmured, and Nick brushed at her cheeks, coaxing her to look at him.

“Sabrina,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to hers and she linked their fingers together, desperate for contact with him. “A prophecy didn’t make me fall in love with you and it didn’t make you fall in love with me.”

“Being without you hurts. I don’t think anyone understands just how much it does.” Admitting that out loud left her feeling vulnerable and part of her wanted to pull away, afraid for her heart, for how easily it could break. But his touch was soothing, echoing her own state of mind, and she leaned into it. “When you were in Hell and I couldn’t get to you...it was agony. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t focus on anything else. I just wanted to get you back.”

“I couldn’t think about getting back to you. All I could think about was keeping you safe,” Nick told her. Thinking about being free of the Dark Lord had only given him power, another thought to exploit and use to traumatize him with. Focusing on saving Sabrina, on her getting to have a life free of the Dark Lord had been what helped him through the worst of it. That couldn’t be manipulated, the Devil too angered over the idea of him not getting what he wanted to manipulate those thoughts and images. “Your father said I was meant to bind him.”

“I never wanted that for you.” She couldn’t stop the tears anymore, gave up trying. “I keep thinking, trying to figure out how it could have gone differently. I should have listened to you about the mandrake. Maybe then it wouldn’t…”

“It would have still happened.” There was no stopping Satan from coming to claim what he saw as his, Nick knew that. Maybe the timing would have been slightly different, but the wheels of time had been turning and he would have ended up in Hell with the Devil inside of him one way or another. He would have endured Hell and the Dark Lord residing inside of him for far longer if it kept Sabrina safe because Edward had been right. Sabrina ruling Hell alongside the Devil would have warped her in ways that Nick was adamant were never allowed to happen. 

“We’ll figure this out,” he murmured into her hair as he tugged her to lay back against him. The paintings were only a starting point. They needed to make sense of exactly what they meant, especially the middle of them where they were joined, creating new energy.

“Sharing with you feels different than when I do with anyone else,” Sabrina whispered, closing her eyes as she listened to him breathe. He was there, he was real, those two things helped ease her frantic mind.

“I don’t know if it feels the same for anyone else when your power flows through me either,” Nick conceded, but he knew he felt connected to her to a degree he never had before since she’d accepted being queen of Hell. “Do you remember when we bound those circles together? To bind the Plague Kings?”

“Yeah,” Sabrina murmured, recalling the event. She’d thought of it earlier in the day after seeing the paintings. 

“I’d never felt anything like that moment,” Nick told her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, not sure if it was good or not that he was echoing her thoughts. “It was like we were one. Sharing that power. Strengthening it. And that’s only gotten stronger.”

“I know,” she whispered, having felt the same. “I don’t like that it shows us in different places. Me in Hellfire. You in the sun.”

“But we’re still joined,” Nick pointed out, catching her hand and bringing it up to his lips to press a kiss to. The clouds finally began to part, allowing them to be bathed in moonlight and Nick was transfixed by the way it created a halo out of Sabrina’s hair, giving her skin a slight glow among the shadows. “And that’s probably just some weird symbolism, Spellman. Not something to get fixated on.”

Sabrina wasn’t sure if he was saying that to make him or her feel better, but it fell a bit flat. Everything in a prophetic image meant something, they both knew that. “Do you remember what you said the other day when we were out here? About how he took everything from you?” 

Nick nodded, threading his fingers through her hair. “Maybe that's what you need to figure out again; your place here,” she continued, closing her eyes at the softness of his touch. “I have to figure out hell and you have to figure out here.”

He tried not to freeze at the idea of her and Hell being so intertwined. “Maybe.” Her idea had merit though. There had to be more to his part then being the one to bind Lucifer if he was that prominent in the paintings. He needed to study them more, take in the whole picture and each piece of them as well. At least that would give him something to do besides running through the woods while she was studying with Ambrose.

“What happened with my father?” She pushed herself up, wanting to be able to see his face. Nick didn’t move from his spot, enjoying the new angle of her in the moonlight.

“He wanted me to find the book.” It would be helpful and he needed to start studying it, memorizing the information inside of it. “And he talked a lot about balance.”

“So did Lilith and Lucifer.” Another similarity between them and the father she’d looked up to for so long. It left a bad taste in her mouth.

“I think they might have different ideas on what balance means,” Nick pointed out, reaching over to trail his fingers up her arm. 

“You’re probably right about that,” she had to concede, smiling down at him, enjoying the way shadows danced across his face as the branches moved, moonlight shimmering through. Part of her wanted to lean down and kiss him, to get lost in him and forget about everything else, but anger still simmered inside of her, threatening to spill outward, and she sighed. “I just…”

“What?” He reached up, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“How dare they?” The words were out of her mouth before Sabrina could stop them, righteous anger spilling out, and Nick watched her. The light that cascaded down on her gave off a blueish tint, reminding him of Hellfire, creating a crown of it on top of her head. “Just deciding our lives for us, what path we have to take.” She shifted away, no longer leaning over him, and glowered at the stars that she could spot through the trees. 

“I'm so angry with him. I can't help but wonder how much he deceived my mom?” Diana couldn’t have known about the second prophecy, could she? Or had she? What had her father told her mother about the life their daughter would end up leading? “I know he did that to my aunts and Ambrose.” Sabrina looked back at Nick and he watched the light flicker, flames dying off. “ And like what about your family? Was he watching you? Did he know your parents...I don't…”

Her voice trailed off as she realized she didn’t actually know much about his parent. Sabrina knew he was an orphan, that Amalia had taken care of him after their deaths and before he’d come to the Academy. She knew the Scratches were an old witch family, that the wolf was apparently their symbol, but that was it. She felt like an ass, guilt replacing her anger, silently berating herself for not asking him about his family.

“I can see the wheels turning in your head, Spellman, and from the way you’re twisting your lips know that you’re feeling guilty.” Nick caught her hand, stroking his thumb across the back of it. “You have nothing to feel guilty about.”

She wasn’t so sure about that and Nick sat up, tugging her closer. “Sabrina.” She sighed, turning to face him. “But to answer your question, I don't know if he did or not. My memories of that far back are fractured, scattered.”

“Because of what happened?” She watched him closely, reaching over to rest her hand on his arm, needing that connection and had a feeling that he might as well.

“I don't know exactly. I know they were killed. I remember hearing…” His mother’s screams were one of the few perfect memories he had of her, her calling for Amalia who dragged him away from their home and out of harm’s way. “Some said it was witch hunters.” For awhile he’d thought that as well, but he’d researched it when he was older and there had been no other attacks in the area his family had lived. Witch hunters weren’t known for one offs. 

“You don't think it was?” She shifted to holding his hand, the skin to skin contact adding another layer of peace.

“I'm not sure if they were targeted because they were witches or if it was something else.” Nick tried to grasp onto anything else in his memories, _something_ that would shed more light onto what had happened. But it was just a jumble of images and sounds, fear overriding everything. “Amalia got me out. We ran, hid. Lived. And then I was found.”

“By who?” 

He linked their fingers together before taking hold of her other hand to do the same. “Warlocks.”

“Were they looking for you?” She hummed a little at the contact, her gaze never leaving his face. 

Nick frowned, blinking at the question. He'd never thought about it really. He remembered being wary of them at first, trying to get away and back to the abandoned hunting lodge that Amalia had been hiding him in for months. They had needed to sedate him and then the werewolf when she’d come bursting through the trees to help him. 

And then he’d woken up in the Academy. “I don't think so.” He remembered their startled faces at seeing him scavenging for mushrooms, their yelps when he’d utilized magic to try and get away from them. “I was a happy accidental find.” The rest was history.

“I’m glad you were found,” Sabrina told him. While she hated the prophecy and the twisted games that they seemed to be in the center of, she couldn’t imagine her life without him. Or no. She could. She’d experienced it for those weeks he’d be trapped in Hell and she never wanted to go back to that. 

“If your father was keeping tabs on me,” Nick started, which would make sense considering how detail oriented Edward Spellman seemed to be. “It might be a good idea to look at…my parent’s place.” He couldn’t call it home. It had been that at one point, he was sure of that, but he was so far removed from it now that speaking of it that way felt odd, tasted weird on his tongue. “There might be clues there.”

She reached over, brushing an unruly curl from his forehead. “We can do that. Have you been there since you came to the Academy?” 

“No.” He’d nearly gone once, had made it to the doorstep of the property and teleported away, never stepping foot inside. “We can add it to the list I can already see forming in your head.” Nick leaned forward, kissing her nose as she pouted at him, before pushing him back to lay on the grass. Nick grinned. “Better?”

She didn’t feel as overwhelmed by her anger and uncertainty as she had been. “Mmmm,” she murmured as she snuggled up against him. Time to simply exist together for at least half an hour.

* * *

Sabrina and Nick walked up the stairs to the mortuary, hand in hand, pausing to kiss right outside the doorway. “ _Where_ have you been?” Zelda demanded as she wrenched the front door open.

“Aunt Zee?” Sabrina arched a brow, taking in her aunt’s tensed shoulders and the tight press of her lips together as she ushered them inside. “We went for a walk…”

Her voice trailed off as she spotted Roz standing in the foyer with the others, noting the stiffness to all of them. There was a taste of fear in the air, one that she couldn’t quite place the need for, but harkened back to when they had been in Dorian’s and the acheron had failed. 

“I had a vision, Brina,” Roz started, and Sabrina almost didn’t need her to explain any further, the dawning realization rising inside of her. She shook her head, not wanting to hear it, for it not to be confirmed. “He’s not in Hell. He was here in Greendale and he did something to my dad.”

“He’s turning the town against us, love,” Hilda commented and Sabrina barely heard her. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s behind our waning powers either,” Zelda added.

Nick’s grip on her hand weakened as he collapsed to his knees at Roz’s words. “He can’t…” Sabrina couldn’t get the words out, falling down beside Nick and cradling his head in her hands. His eyes had glazed over and he was trembling, shock taking over. “Aunt Hilda can you?” 

Her aunt was already beside her, helping to hold Nick up. “Sabrina, what are you?” Zelda demanded as Sabrina rose.

“I’ll be back.” She needed confirmation, needed to see for herself that it wasn’t the Dark Lord in that wall. 

“Sabrina, no--”

She didn’t hesitate though, ignoring her aunt’s admonishment and teleported into Hell, heading directly toward Lilith’s chambers. “Sabrina?” the woman asked, looking up from her desk.

Sabring waved her hand, making the piece of wall disappear and looked at the golem that was still there. She could feel the pull of celestial energy from it. “Surgere et dicere.”

They weren’t the devil’s eyes that looked back at her and it definitely wasn’t his voice that echoed in the room. “S-Sabrina?” Was that the football coach? “Ms.--Ms. _Wardwell_?”

“Somnum,” Sabrina breathed out and the man’s eyes closed again. She pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to breathe as she turned to look at Lilith. The Mother of Demons was staring at the man, her eyes widening in horror as the realization dawned on her as to what it meant.

She watched the older woman fall to the ground, similar to how Nick had done so, her fear palpable. Hell seemed to crave it, Sabrina could feel the way it fed off the woman, delighting in it. “I’m going to fix this,” Sabrina started as she knelt beside Lilith, wincing at the way she flinched from her. Sabrina closed her eyes and reached over, taking Lilith’s hand in hers. “Offero praesidio profundum inferni, qui contra te incendet.”

It probably wouldn’t do much against the likes of Lucifer, but it was the most protection she could give. “I charge the hounds of Hell to guard and protect you when I’m not in this realm,” Sabrina continued as she rose. “But I’m going to bring some of them with me.”

“You need to destroy him as you did the sliver of him that resided in your friend, Sabrina,” Lilith told her as she stood, brushing her hands over her skirt. “And you know you do not have the power level to do that yet.”

“I know.” Lucifer had to die and she had to take her rightful place as Queen. It was the only way to keep everyone safe.

Sabrina teleported back to the mortuary, nodding affirmation to Roz’s words. 

“It's always something with this family,” Prudence muttered, while Ambrose cursed, pressing his hands together and to his mouth as he started to pace.

“We need to find the Spear of Longinus,” Sabrina told them as she moved to kneel by Hilda who was working to get Nick to breathe. “I’m not sure we can believe anything he muttered to us about what can actually kill him, but I think its better if we have it then letting him get to it.” 

“I’ll start looking through books. See if there’s any information about what might have happened to it,” Ambrose said, thankful to have a purpose. 

“I’ll help,” Prudence offered, and he nodded.

“Stop,” Zelda ordered before anyone could move. “Finding that is all well and good and something we’re going to need to do. But first we fortify, here and the Academy. We are all vulnerable to the Dark Lord and considering everything that’s happened this last week or so I think we can safely say that he’s been toying with us.” She looked over at Roz. “It is not safe for you at your house.”

“What about Theo and Harvey?” Roz asked, because they were just as vulnerable as she was. 

“We’ll worry about their houses after we secure the mortuary and the Academy. Call them. Let them know what’s happening, Rosalind,” Zelda told her and the girl nodded.

“On it,” she replied before heading to the kitchen to use the phone.

Fear coursed through the lot of them as the hounds of Hell howled in the distance, responding to Sabrina’s earlier call. “Is that…” Ambrose started, looking toward the front door.

“Hellhounds,” Nick muttered, his face too pale for Sabrina’s liking. 

“I thought they’d be good reinforcement,” she explained, looking over at Zelda, thankful her aunt nodded her approval. I’ll station some at the Academy, send one to Theo and Harvey’s house. We’ll have some here too.” Anyone who left needed to have one at their side. Sabrina was certain that they would adhere to her orders, even if Lucifer tried to tell them differently. 

Zelda looked back over at Sabrina and extended her hand toward her. Her heart ached over what she had to say then, what she needed to ask of her niece. “Sabrina. You know it's time.”

Sabrina nodded, taking a step back from Nick and Hilda so that she was standing in front of Zelda. “You can do this,” Zelda told her, and Sabrina closed her eyes at the conviction in her aunt’s voice as she took her hands. 

“No,” Hilda gasped and Sabrina looked over at her, watched as her other aunt shook her head. “You _don’t_ have to do this. We can find another way. The old Gods...”

She loved that Hilda wanted to protect her, to keep her from heading further down the path she’d been thrust onto, but Sabrina knew there was no denying it. Not anymore. Not with Lucifer loose. “Yes, auntie, I do.” 

She took a deep breath, having no idea how it would work, but she reached out, accepting the call of Hell, no longer ignoring it like she usually tried when she was on Earth. She allowed it to flow through her, becoming one with her in ways that she’d shied away from, terrified of losing herself in the power. Then she pushed some of that power into her aunt, blessing her with the gifts that had been slowly draining away. 

Hell seemed to sing to her, twisting itself inside of her, sealing her connection to it in ways that being crowned hadn’t quite managed. She felt as though she could do anything in that moment, blot out the injustices of the world, reshape it into her image, but she pushed that desire down, focusing on her family. They needed her. Everything else could wait.

But there was no escaping Hell now, she could feel that to her very core, she’d accepted the last responsibility--doling out its power to those she deemed worthy. 

Destiny embraced.

Zelda gasped and Sabrina stepped back, dropping her hands, afraid that she’d hurt her, that she’d given too much. But her aunt was smiling and reached over, gently clasping her face between her hands. “Are you ready to do that a few more times?”

She hesitated, glancing back at Nick who was barely holding it together still. “I’ve got him, love. Go do what you need to do. We’ll be here waiting,” Hilda assured her, and Nick leaned against her, closing his eyes. 

Sabrina wasn’t sure if he had been able to make sense of anything that had been happening around him. That was probably for the best. He’d have fought tooth and nail to keep her from doing what she’d done. 

Turning back to Zelda, she nodded. She’d do whatever it took to keep them safe. Even if it meant losing herself in the process.

“Ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Powers, Prophecies, witch hunters, and the Spellmans have a long awaited discussion with Edward Spellman, plus a few Nabrina moments await the next chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care of yourselves.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the ridiculousness with posting this chapter. IDK what was going on with AO3

_"Suffering is like anything else.  
Live with it long enough,   
you learn to like the taste."  
_

Prudence scanned through the book, waving her hand for the page to turn. The sound of rustling behind her, dogs paws scraping against the hardwood floor had her shivering. “I know they’re here to help but it's still unnerving.”

Ambrose glanced over in the direction of the noises. Neither of them could see the hellhounds standing guard. They were only ever seen by a witch if they had been summoned or the witch or mortal was being dragged to Hell. Maybe it was different once they were in Hell. He hadn’t thought to ask Zelda if she’d been able to see them while down there. “I’m not sure if it's better that we can’t see them or not.”

“Hearing them is enough.” She closed the book and picked up the next, resuming her spell to try and locate anything meaningful about the spear. “From what I remember of any drawings they're not a pretty sight to look at.”

“They are usually used for dragging someone off to Hell,” Ambrose pointed out. Looking terrifying probably helped with doing that. “Any luck in any of those texts?” He knew the answer well before she spoke, but after looking through the Academy’s books for the last few hours he needed a bit of hope about the situation.

It had been one account after another in various journals or excerpts of them from differing accounts, usually just a line of text mentioning somewhere in the world. He’d marked them all down on the map, accounting for changing names throughout the centuries, but after the fifteenth century it seemed to have been lost in the wind, no one knowing where it had been taken after its brief tenure in a monastery in a small Balkans country. They would need to look there, but his gut told him that it was no longer there.

“Do you really think we’ll find a clue in one of the Academy’s books for where the spear that can kill Lucifer is located?” Prudence rolled her eyes at the idea. Just because it was the only action they had at the moment didn’t mean it was going to be a fruitful one. 

“Rather look and be proven wrong than not and figure out that the answer was here all along in a few months.” He set the book he was looking at aside and picked up another.

She twisted her lips, hating that he had a point. “It's charming how you think we’ll even have that amount of time.”

“Maybe we can help?” 

Agatha’s voice carried through the room and the two looked up spotting her sisters walking toward them. “What are you looking for?” 

Ambrose looked at the two and then over at Prudence. He couldn’t make the decision to include them for her, they were her family. It was up to her if she trusted them with this. The Spellmans had trusted her, included her in what was happening with Sabrina and the Devil. He was confident that trust was mutual.

She eyed the two of them, weighing her options. Part of her was still hurt that they hadn’t let her know they had begun to worship Sabrina, but she’d left them out of quite a few matters in the last few weeks as well. Fair was fair. 

They had always been stronger together though. 

“We’re trying to locate a spear to help us kill the devil.”

“Will that give Sabrina more power?” Agatha looked over at Dorcas.

“Which means we get more?” The other girl’s smile grew as they both looked over at Prudence.

“In theory, yes,” Ambrose replied. Technically they were both rulers of Hell, once Lucifer was gone, any power that he held would need to be transferred somewhere and it made sense that it would go to Sabrina. Or at least back into Hell, which still meant it was hers. 

“How can we help?” the girls asked, taking seats near Prudence. They looked at the books, making faces and hoping it wasn’t by reading. 

Ambrose and Prudence exchanged a look. They had tried a locator spell which had led them to the current books collected on the table, but maybe with the power of three they could speed up the process? “Lay the map out on the floor,” Prudence told him before looking back at her sisters. “We’re going to need ribbon and a knife.”

“Be right back,” Agatha replied, before heading off to retrieve the materials.

Dorcas picked at the books, eyebrows shifting as she set them aside one by one, sneezing at the dust that came off one. It was only then that she saw the two paintings on the table, depicting Sabrina and Nick. “Whoever did this got his nose all wrong,” she muttered, picking up the painting. “And she looks old.”

“She does not look old. And Nick’s nose looks perfectly accurate,” Prudence chided, unsurprised to find her sister still harbored some jealousy there. 

“What’s the spear look like that’s supposed to kill him?” Dorcas asked as she stared at Nick’s picture.

Ambrose turned one of the books around, showing the black and white sketch in it. “This seems to be the one most agree on.”

Dorcas put the painting down and turned it toward him. “Maybe ask whoever painted this because it's right there by Nick, underneath this ridiculous glowing symbolism.”

Prudence and Ambrose leaned forward, eyes widening as they took in the space in the painting that she’d been referring to. “Sabrina’s has a different one. Scythe or whatever it's called. The one the mortals like to depict with the Grim Reaper.”

The aunties were definitely not going to like this.

* * *

“Sabrina,” Zelda started, but she was already shaking her head, needing to distance herself from her aunt. 

“I just want to see Nick.” He hadn’t been doing well when they had headed to the Academy and she was worried, knowing that learning the Dark Lord was running around free had most likely shattered his already fragile stability. It had done that to her, how could it have not done that to him?

“There is much we need to plan,” her aunt pointed out even as she took a step up the stairs. 

“I just gave actual power to everyone in the coven, helped bolster the wards at the Academy and here. I need a five minute break,” Sabrina snapped and then closed her eyes, reeling in the emotions that were spinning out of control inside of her. Wind had whipped up around her, the scene too much like when she’d yelled at Ambrose over the Top Boy fiasco, but the hounds were howling in the distance, growling lowly in response to her rage that kept threatening to boil over. 

“I’m--” She meant to apologize, but Zelda was already nodding and waving her off. 

“We’ll need him in the meeting as well,” her aunt told her, ignoring Hilda’s chiding as her other aunt walked in from the kitchen. 

“He may be a little out of it,” Hilda warned her

“You drugged him?” It wasn’t exactly surprising considering the state he’d been in when she’d needed to leave, but Sabrina still didn’t like it.

Hilda looked between the two of them, and Sabrina noted the silent communication that seemed to pass between the two sisters. Sometimes words didn’t need to be said with them, not after having lived with one another for so long. A simple look conveyed so much meaning, but Sabrina was still learning them and steeled herself as Hilda looked back at her. “It seemed the best way to help him slowly deal with the revelation.”

_Nick_. Sabrina glanced up toward her room. “Salem is with him, ready to alert me if he woke,” her aunt continued, but she was already on her way up the stairs, ignoring the conversation that continued on down below.

Salem looked up from the foot of the bed as she entered and she headed toward him, giving him a loving head rub for keeping watch over the boy who lay in her bed. He almost would have looked peaceful except for the way his brow was furrowed even in sleep. She sat down on the bed beside him, reaching over to brush a curl from his forehead, before leaning in to softly kiss him, hoping it would help ease him awake.

He kissed her back as he woke, hand sliding up to stroke her cheek, the scent of her shampoo reassuring him that it was her and not a trick of the Dark Lord who was out there, waiting to pounce. Something was different about her though, he could sense it, and remembered that Zelda and her had been talking when he’d collapsed at the confirmation about Lucifer. There had been a surge of power in the air around them, he could feel it still in the house and as she pulled back, hand still curled in his shirt, he knew what had happened and his heart ached for her. 

A conversation needed to happen, Sabrina knew that. So many words needed to be said, but she pushed them back as she leaned forward again, tugging at his shirt and working to pull it off his body, thankful that he helped her before she started to kiss along his jaw and then down his neck. She could forget everything that happened, focus solely on tasting him, noting the roughness of his jaw where the stubble was coming in, feel the muscles of his body as she trailed her hands down his chest, ghosting along the waistline of his pants. 

It was a heat she wanted to experience, soothing the burn of Hell that coursed through her veins, calling for her. 

Nick groaned as she shifted to straddle him at the same time she drew her teeth against his pulse point, following that with the stroke of her tongue. He blinked though at the sound he heard coming from her. “Sabrina?”

Then he noticed that tears were hitting his chest as she moved downward, trying to undo his belt and he caught her hands as he brushed her hair out of her face, catching sight of the tears sliding down her cheeks. “Hey, hey.” She tugged at his grip, shaking her head as she tried to keep working at his belt. 

Her lips were back on his pulse point and he closed his eyes at that, fighting off the stirrings of pleasure that she was sending rippling through him. “Sabrina.” 

Nick caught her hands again and moved to sit up. “You’re not ready for this.” She let out a sob at his words, her hands trembling in his grip. 

“I just...I wanna forget.” She couldn’t see through her tears, everything a blur as she pressed her hands to his chest. “Please, Nick. I need… _please_.”

“Not like this,” he pulled her to him, hugging her tightly against him as she cried.

Part of her had clung to the hope that she could somehow still manage to get rid of the title of Queen. That there would be a loophole somewhere down the line if she didn’t fully commit to the role, if she could just hold out long enough to get to that point in time. But that tiny thread of light was gone, replaced by nothing but the overwhelming darkness that wanted to permeate her very being. It was a cool rage, one that simmered just below the surface, trying to blot out all other emotions and part of her wanted to give into it, to let it consume her and leave her as nothing but a husk of who she was. 

It would be easier that way. 

But love kept pushing through; for her family and friends, for the coven that she was still learning how to be part of, and for Nick. Giving up meant losing them, it meant endangering them in the end, because why would a heartless shell of herself try and protect them any longer? So Sabrina fought the rage, letting the sadness win out, and clung to Nick, her body shaking with the force of her silent sobs. 

He rubbed at her back, murmuring words that she couldn’t quite make out, but the sound of his voice soothed her, helped ease back the anger as well. His own sparked, targeted at the Dark Lord and Edward Spellman for putting her on the path that was leading to nothing but heartache for Sabrina. Neither of them deserved the title of father from her, both only manipulating her life to better suit their plans, not caring at all about what she wanted. 

The fear that had overwhelmed him, causing him to go nearly catatonic at the confirmation of Lucifer’s presence on earth, was gone, stripped away and laid bare as hatred boiled over, reminding him of why he’d taken on the Devil in the first place. Sabrina might be Queen of Hell, there might not be a way to stop that or break the claim Hell had on her, but like Heaven was he about to let the Dark Lord lay any claim to her. 

“I need to gift you power too,” she murmured against his chest, even as she still shook every so often as she hiccuped. “I gave it to the rest of the coven, like we all got when we signed the Book of the Beast.” But there would be no signing a name in that infernal book for her. She’d burn the thing if she could. “That was the final step. It's one thing to be worshipped, to give boosts here and there, another to permanently dole out power.”

“No, you don’t,” he told her, still rubbing her back to try and soothe her, sighing when she pulled back.

“Nick.” Sabrina searched his expression, trying to understand why he’d say that. “I don’t want you to be vulnerable. Not against him.”

“I’m not,” Nick reassured, shrugging slightly. He knew that wouldn’t be enough of an answer and reached over, brushing at her frown lines.

“Aunt Zelda’s pretty sure he’s been draining the coven of their powers, Nick,” she protested, catching his hand. “He’s probably been doing the same to you.”

“I haven’t utilized the power he gave me since Hell, Sabrina.” The Dark Lord had no say in the magic he could do any longer, hadn’t for a long time. It wasn’t his power that flowed through him. “Remember? I’ve been worshipping you since I was there.”

“So were Melvin and Elspeth and I guess Dorcas and Agatha really did start after that weird talk at the library, but their level went up significantly today because of what I did.” She remembered the whispers in the other students as they breathed in their newfound power. Especially the witches. How many of them hadn’t been given anything significant because of their gender?

“I’m not letting you tie yourself further to Hell for me, Sabrina.” Nick was adamant about that. 

“I’m already irrevocably tied, Nick.” There was no walking away anymore. “At least this way I can protect you.”

“No.” He shook his head.

“But.” She tried to gather the words to convince him. The idea of him being vulnerable left her cold.

“Sabrina, _no_ ,” he reiterated and the bedframe shook slightly at his words, power rattling through him. They both glanced over at it before he looked back at her, arching a brow. 

“That wasn’t me,” she murmured, shaking her head as she moved to roll off of him. “Pretty sure that was all you.” He caught her around the waist, stilling her movement and she pressed her hands to his bare chest, voice catching in her throat at the way he looked at her. The heat in his gaze shot right through her and she swallowed, before gently biting down on her bottom lip. 

Her eyes were still puffy from crying though and Nick reached up, tugging brushing his fingers against her lips so she’d release it. His breath hitched when she gently bit his finger before leaning in to kiss him again. There was a different desperation between them this time, neither wanting to forget the world around them even as they began to lose themselves in one another. 

Heat built up between them, coursing between them almost as if it was linking the two, and it was only when they broke apart to catch their breath that either of them realized the air between them was glowing in the same way the prophecy paintings had shown happening with their clasped hands. It wasn’t just the air though, an energy was building, one that far surpassed anything either of them had felt before. 

It dissipated almost as quickly as it had formed though, the two of them staring at one another as they worked to catch their breath, bodies coming down from the high that the energy and their touch had brought about in them. 

“What was…” Nick asked, stroking his hands up and down her arms as Sabrina held onto his shoulders.

“I have no idea…” 

She hadn’t felt that with anyone else and she hadn’t even been trying to give him any power. It hadn’t been like when she’d worked to bolster him or when she’d felt him tug on her power level as he silently worshipped her. Something had changed, almost connecting the two of them. Part of her wanted it back, to dive into that oneness with him, but another part was frightened, not wanting to pull Nick down into the depths of Hell where she now belonged. 

“Planning meeting,” Zelda’s voice carried up the stairs, causing the two of them to flinch at the intensity of her voice before Sabrina untangled herself from him.

“Are you okay to do this?” Sabrina handed him his shirt, watching him carefully. He’d been so lost when they’d learned Lucifer wasn’t trapped in Hell, broken, and she didn’t want him to crack anymore. They could figure out things without him suffering more. Prophecy be damned.

“It was a shock learning that he’s not...but it's not anymore.”Nick pulled on the shirt as he gathered his thoughts and she knew that look of anger that seemed to encompass him, tightening his shoulders in a way that mirrored her own. “He doesn’t get you.”

“He doesn’t get the world,” she murmured, moving off the bed but he caught her hand, causing her to look back at him. There was that look again, echoing back to when she’d done the mandrake spell and he’d told her she was all he cared about. It terrified part of her, remembering where that had led before. “You can’t sacrifice yourself for me. Not again” She squeezed his hand. “ _Promise._ ”

Nick let go of her hand. As much as he didn’t want to face the Dark Lord again, no matter how the thought of taking him inside of himself petrified him to his core, Nick knew he would do it again in a heartbeat if it saved Sabrina. 

“You know I can’t promise you that.”

Sabrina wanted to scream at him, to somehow bind him to not be able to do anything of the sort, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. It was fine. She’d just make sure if anyone needed to sacrifice themself so the world would be okay that it would be her this time around. 

Nick narrowed his eyes; he had a good idea what was going on in that head of hers. “ _Sabrina._ ” He couldn’t hold back the exasperation in his voice. He never wanted to be the one to hold her back, wanted to bolster her in her ideas and on her path, but sometimes he wanted to shake some sense into her. “We’re joined in the prophecy. Usually that means the people in it are supposed to work together.”

“Then don’t stand there thinking about how you’re willing to sacrifice yourself again!” She glared at him, pushing up off the bed. “Because _that’s_ not working together.”

“That means you can’t either.” He pointed out, lips curling slightly into a smile at the way she glowered. “Don’t you think you’ve sacrificed enough by becoming Queen?”

“Not if he’s still alive and terrorizing everyone I love.” She raised both of her arms, shrugging helplessly at her own words. 

The air between them was charged, mimicking the emotions that flowed between them, and Nick rounded the bed, closing the distance between them again. He cupped her cheeks with his hands, sighing softly as she pressed her own hands on top of his. “This is not just your fight.”

“He’s my...whatever he is.” She wouldn’t call the Dark Lord father. Part of her didn’t even want to call Edward Spellman that any longer. Not with how angry she was over the prophecy and the path she’d never truly had a choice to walk down. 

“And he was in me.” It hurt to say those words, the truth of it wound that would never really heal. He kissed her forehead before leaning his against hers. “Together. We do this _together._ ”

She didn’t want to promise that, didn’t want the possibility for him to get hurt on the table again. “ _Nick_.”

“You’re not alone, Sabrina.” She buried her face in his shoulder as he shifted them, hugging her tightly as her fear shook through her. 

She couldn’t lose him again. She couldn’t lose any of them. 

“Honestly, you two. When I say planning meeting I meant _now_ not in twenty minutes,” Zelda started as she wrenched the bedroom door open, stopping at the threshold.

The two of them were bathed in light, mimicking the paintings down on the table. It dissipated as they opened their eyes and looked over at her. “Sorry, Auntie. We’re coming.”

“ _Now_ ,” Zelda reiterated, turning on her heel. She’d try to make sense of what she’d seen later. They had so much else to figure out first.

* * *

Theo glanced over at where the sound of paws on the gravel was coming from, squinting to see if that might help him spot the hellhound, but no. There was nothing there. Which was probably a good thing. Seeing a hellhound seemed like it would be a very bad omen for him and his dad. He looked back over at his father who was talking to the vet, picking up a few new medicines to try and help the chickens and cattle with...whatever was going on with them. 

_Possibly because of the devil_.

Wasn’t that what Roz had tried to explain when she’d called and let them know that he was not in Hell and that Sabrina was sending hellhounds to protect their families. Theo wiped at his brow, wondering how he hadn’t gone crazy yet from the insanity that was their lives. 

Wait. Was that? “Dorothea?” 

He hadn’t seen the woman in weeks, not since the incident with the mandrake, and glanced back over at his dad, making sure he was occupied, before heading over to where the ghost of his ancestor indicated. 

“They’re coming.”

That was definitely not something that Theo had wanted to hear. “Who’s coming?”

“The hunters, like those who came before, but far more powerful, my boy.” 

Hunters. He remembered hearing about that. Sabrina had died. And then not. “Why?”

She looked off into the distance and he turned, trying to see what she did, but nothing was there. Just Greendale and the people in it moving about. “The devil makes haste and they mean to counter.” 

Oh. Yeah. “We know he’s loose.”

“You’re followed by one of his hounds.” She looked over at where the noises from the animal were coming from, but Theo thought unlike him that she might actually be able to see the creature. Her eyes narrowed, a rare smile tugging at her lips before she looked back at him. “Though it doesn’t seem to belong to him anymore.”

“What can we do?” She had helped him with advice before for himself and his friends. Hopefully she had more to give.

“I only can come with the warning. I do not see the future, only the past.” Only what she had experienced and seen repeatedly happen throughout the ages, condemning them all to the same vicious cycle. “The answers lie there.”

“Where though? What answers?” There were so many possibilities and not enough time to explore them all. 

“Prove what has yet to be proven. That mortal and witch can be one.” If only that were as simple as it sounded.

“Theo?” his dad called and Theo turned, glancing to see where he was before looking back at Dorothea, but she was gone..

“Coming dad!” He’d have to fill the others in later. Maybe they’d have some ideas.

* * *

“Strategy, yes,” Ambrose started, gesturing for everyone to take a seat around the kitchen table. “I am going to let you get to that, Auntie, but there’s another piece to the puzzle.” He placed the paintings back in the middle for everyone to see. “Prudence and I have been looking at the paintings.”

“I thought you were researching the spear.” Zelda arched a brow at him and he nodded, swallowing slightly under her scrutiny. Over a hundred years and she still managed to make him feel as though he was barely twenty at times

“We thought that maybe there would be some information in the paintings,” he explained.

“Because Dorcas found the spear in it,” Prudence added, everyone’s attention turning to her.

“She did what?” Zelda asked. There were so many follow up questions to ask in regards to that but Ambrose was already tapping the painting, pointing to where the spear was depicted behind Nicholas, nearly shrouded in the glowing light that mimicked what she’d seen around her niece and him only moments before.

“Sabrina has a scythe,” Prudence continued, tapping where that was loathed on the other painting.

“We looked at the painting a little more and well.” Ambrose touched each tiny depiction of a witch. “Prudence. Me. You and Aunt Hilda.”

“And then over here you have Rosalind. Harvey. Theo.” Prudence touched each of them.

“What?” Sabrina pulled the paintings toward her, shaking her head as she took in each of the depictions. How hadn’t they seen it before? 

“It appears we’re all in the prophecy,” Ambrose concluded, the revelation leaving them all reeling. 

Everything had happened so fast after they had found it; with the witch hunters and the manor needing to be destroyed, seeing that Nick was part of it, and then learning Lucifer was out. But they had been there all along, each of them depicted in ways that she should have noticed sooner. Roz with her with white eyes, her Aunties with their hair and holding hands, each of the others showcasing some uniqueness to them.

“Well, that seals that we all need to work together on this,” Zelda replied, pulling the paintings away from her. Sabrina looked up at her aunt’s words, nodding slowly at the look being directed at her. 

“How could Edward not tell us about this?” Hilda asked as she picked up the painting of Sabrina that had her in it.

“He might not have noticed that we were in it,” Ambrose suggested but Zelda scoffed at that.

“Edward noticed everything. To a fault. And it's high time he starts talking to all of us.” Zelda rose, taking the painting from Hilda and beckoning for her to rise. “Summoning supplies. Ambrose, you know what to get from the cabinets upstairs for it. Sabrina, get the picture of your father from the living room.”

“You two,” she turned her focus toward Nick and Prudence. “Candles. As many as you can gather from around the house. We’ll meet in the foyer.” The room would be wide enough to do what was needed. “ _Go._ ”

Everyone scrambled to complete their tasks while she moved to retrieve a cigarette. Zelda stared out the window as she lit it, sighing at her expression in the glass. _What the Heaven were you playing at, brother?_

* * *

It was sad how after Tommy’s death things had managed to get better between him and his father. Harvey knew it was Sabrina’s doing and while he was grateful for that, a small part of him resented it, hated that the cost of the change had been his brother’s life. But none of that had been Sabrina’s fault, not really. It was just the world she was part of--that they were all a part of. It had taken him some time to accept that, having separated everything by their world and the witch one that she sometimes had to hang out in. They were one though, even if not everyone was able to see that.

Sometimes he wished that he didn’t, that things were back to before everything in his life had been turned into shades of grey instead of the black and white one that he’d known. There was no going back though. The death of his mother when he was a child had taught him that. Tommy’s death had just been a reminder. 

And maybe they didn’t have Tommy anymore, but his dad and him had each other. There was basketball to talk about and his dad didn’t get on him about drawing anymore. Plus he wasn’t drinking. Life was more than bearable. Or it had been before the collapse of the mines. Before there was a hellhound prowling around outside of his house, guarding it. 

It was better to just not think about that part at all.

The knock at the door startled him from his sketch and he looked over at his dad who had been watching the current game, both of them unsure who it could be. “Probably that girlfriend of yours. Or Suz...Theo?” Had he gotten that right?

“Yeah, Theo, dad.” Harvey set down the sketchbook and pencil. “I’ll check.”

Hopefully it wasn’t any of the families that worked at the mines. There was little any of them could do but wait to see if the next excavation attempt would help clear it enough that they could inspect and repair. Not that it would be possible if Roz’ theory about the devil being the cause behind it was true. Considering everything she was probably right.

“Grandpa?” Harvey asked as he opened the door, spotting the man with some other men and women on the other side of the door. He didn’t recognize any of them. 

“And here he is, my grandson.” His grandfather clapped him on the shoulder. “Doing sports now even. Might be some hope for you yet, boy.”

Harvey held the door open as everyone headed inside behind his grandfather, nodding in greeting to him. There was something off about them, but he couldn’t quite place what it was. They reminded him of someone he’d met before...or no, not met, seen? 

The low growl of the hellhound alerted him to its presence. He couldn’t see it, but he could hear it nearing, the sound it was making almost seemed like it wanted him to follow him outside of the house. 

One of them men pushed the door shut. “We don’t want to let any vermin inside,” the man told him, smiling much too brightly, and Harvey nodded before turning around to try and make sense of what was going on. 

“Just need a place to crash for a few days,” his grandpa said and Harvey watched his dad nod. “Have a few things to take care of around here and then we’ll be on our way.” 

Harvey swallowed at those words, not liking the way they made his stomach sink or the fact that one of the people who’d arrived with his grandpa was staring outside the window, looking as though he could see the hellhound prowling around the perimeter. “I’m gonna head to Roz’s,” Harvey called out, grabbing his keys from their place on the wall.

His dad nodded and Harvey avoided the gazes of the others as he bounded out of the house, shoving his hands in his pocket as he headed toward his truck. “Might want to hold off for a second before following me,” he whispered, hoping the hellhound understood him. 

He could feel the others inside watching him as he drove away.

* * *

The candles’ flames shimmered, casting shadows against the walls as the group completed their chant. Edward Spellman stood in the middle of the circle of candles as they said their last word, silence falling between all of them. Sabrina reached for Nick’s hand, holding onto tightly as she glared at the man she had always wanted to know better. That longing was gone, replaced by anger that she worried would overwhelm her. Nick’s touch helped calm it, steady it enough that she didn’t lash out at his ghost.

She expected it to be Zelda who spoke first, they all did, everyone’s gaze turning toward her. But it was Hilda who spoke up, her voice laced with more venom than Sabrina had ever heard in it. “How could you do this to her, to him, to us?” 

She pointed at everyone as she stepped into the circle, jabbing at her brother’s chest with her next words. “You are her father. Your job was to love her, protect her.”

“I did.” Edward’s voice was calm, but there was a resignation to it that hadn’t been there before.

“This is _not_ protecting her.” Hilda shook her head, hands clenched into fists at her sides as she glared up at him. “This is getting what you wanted. You did not think about her for one minute."

He opened his mouth to try and explain but she waved a finger in his face, mouthing for him to zip it before she kept going. “Sixteen year old Queen of Hell. She's just come into her powers. She's barely lived. And you helped take that life from her.”

“Zelda,” Edward looked over at her. “Explain to our sister how there are sacrifices at times for the greater good.”

“Oh no.” Zelda raised her chin, arms crossing as she sneered at him. “I think Hilda understands perfectly what she's saying and I agree with her. We do not sacrifice family.”

“She is alive and not Lucifer's to mold,” Edward pointed out and Hilda had to take a step back toward Zelda.

“Hold me back so I don’t curse him,” she warned her sister, but Zelda simply shrugged.

“Please do. He’s definitely warranted one now.”

“Can you even curse a ghost?” Ambrose murmured, scooting away from Prudence’s elbow to his side.

“Now is not the time, Ambrose,” she muttered right back. She really should have been used to the Spellman drama at this point.

“Did my mother know?” Sabrina asked, and everyone seemed to hold a collective breath as they waited for his answer. She didn’t know if she could bear the weight of it if Diana had known as well.

“No.”

“At least one of you was a parent.” Hilda spat out.

Edward sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was startling to see the pieces of him that made up her aunts. There were bits of Ambrose there as well. Or was it the other way around, did all of them have bits of Edward Spellman in them? Did she? “You do not comprehend what would have happened without my interference.”

“Yes, destruction of the world, death to us all,” Zelda drawled out, resting a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Did you even look for a better way?”

“Of course I did. That’s all I did for half a century after Priscilla’s death.” He looked around at all of them, silently begging them to see the seriousness of the situation. They already did, that was never the issue that was at hand. “But there is no other way. _Together_ you can defeat the Dark Lord and his legions as well as the legions of Heaven.”

“I’m sorry what?” Hilda asked, hoping she had heard that addition wrong.

“Legions of Heaven?” Ambrose piped in, repeating the part they were all thinking.

“First we dealt with Limbo, then Hell. Should any of us be surprised that Heaven’s been thrown into the mix as well?” It didn’t surprise Zelda for a moment.

“The Devil upset the balance of the universe and continues to do so with his plans. Heaven won’t stand for that,” Edward pointed out, and Nick exchanged a glance with Ambrose.

“The witch hunters,” the younger warlock recalled and Ambrose sat down on the stairwell.

“Great. Angels. Because we needed that to deal with as well.” The last time they had barely made it out alive.

“Together with the seer, the one who communicates with ghosts of his ancestors, and the would be hunter you’ll manage it,” Edward assured, but his words only angered Sabrina.

“They’re _mortal._ ” So easily killed and she wouldn’t allow it.

“Precisely.” Edward turned toward her and she found she didn’t much like his smile any longer. “Witch and mortal working together. Something neither side ever wanted. But balance all the same.”

He stepped out of the candle circle and rested his hands on Sabrina’s shoulders. There had been a time she’d wanted that, where she would have pulled in for a hug, but that time had long since passed. “I held you and I wanted to take it all away. To turn back the wheels that had begun spinning eons ago.” 

Why didn’t you, she wanted to scream, to pound her fists into his chest, but it was useless and instead she stepped away, not wanting the comfort he was trying to offer. “But you had your aunts and I knew they would ensure that you would grow up to be the young woman who could do this.”

“ _Child_ ,” Hilda snapped, pulling Sabrina over toward her. “Child who will do this. Stop mincing words and tell us everything or I will banish you from this plane of existence forever.”

“As you should have done for us from the beginning,” Zelda added, standing beside her niece. 

“Do you think the Dark Lord would have allowed you to raise her if you knew who she was to him? Do you think you could have raised Sabrina as needed if you'd known?” Edward shook his head. “You would have tried to hide her, to run, and he would have killed all of you as well. The Dark Lord does not like loose ends.”

It was true. Hadn’t they considered various ways to protect her from Satan once they had learned of his plans for Sabrina? But Hilda and Zelda simply stared at him, unmoved by his words.

“I suppose we’ll never know because you took that choice from us,” Zelda replied, her voice colder than she’d ever used on her brother.

“Get on with it,” Hilda told him, finished with the excuses. They needed the rest of the details that he knew. Dealing with any family fallout could wait until later. “Explain. _Everything._ ”

Edward nodded, knowing peace was something he would not find for a long time. “I’ll do my best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I love writing Nabrina, I really like writing the Spellmans together. Their family dynamic is my favorite.
> 
> Next chapter will have the fallout of Edward's words, Nabrina, Fright Club, Lilith and unfortunately some Dark Lord.


	17. Chapter 17

_your name was more powerful  
than any empire, but  
it could not stop your fall.  
_

The candles were all out, any trace of Edward Spellman gone from the room. They were around the foyer in various spots, Ambrose still sitting on the stairs with Prudence leaning against the banister. Nick and Sabrina off to one side while Zelda and Hilda stood to the other. Exhaustion was catching up with all of them, each of them looking ready to drop at any moment, standing purely through their own stubbornness.

“I'm just trying to wrap my head around what we need to do,” Ambrose started, rubbing the back of his neck.

“The mortals need to stop the witch hunters,” Prudence murmured from her spot beside him.

“How the three of them are supposed to do that is anyone's guess. And stop giving me the evil eye, cousin.” Ambrose glared right back at Sabrina. He wasn’t all that pleased with her little trio of friends being the ones to go up against witch hunters either. “I'm just restating what was said.”

“We're supposed to defeat the demons of hell that will be over running the Earth,” Prudence continued. “And various creatures from it as well.”

“Oh yes,” Ambrose sighed. “Can't forget he said the hordes would be released as well.”

“Sabrina and Nick destroy Lucifer,” Hilda shook her head at the very idea of it. 

“With a spear and a scythe that we don't have,” Prudence added, pointing out another flaw in Edward Spellman’s details.

“And we have no idea when this will occur.” Ambrose’s eyes widened at the enormity of it all. “Or where.”

Zelda tapped her foot, waiting for her nephew to cease talking. She knew better than to butt in at this point. The comments would still be made and it was better to let him get them all out at once instead of him constantly interrupting her while she spoke. 

“So, not an actual plan,” Ambrose muttered what all of them had been thinking. He hid his face in his hands and drooped his head. Prudence reached over, touching his shoulder before quickly pulling her hand away and glancing off to the side.

“No, we seem to have all just been chess pieces, perfectly arranged,” Zelda replied, jaw clenching as she replayed everything her brother had told them. “And now we need to figure out the next part ourselves.”

“That’s the problem with prophecies.” Hilda sighed, shrugging her shoulders before letting them sag. “They can be interpreted in so many ways.”

Nick simply tightened his grip on Sabrina’s waist, letting her lean against him as they listened to the others. 

“Right then.” Zelda snapped her fingers. There was no point in dallying. They needed concrete things to do . “Nicholas, we’re going to need you to work with everyone here and the coven on Edward’s spells. I have a feeling they’ll be needed in the oncoming days to handle the hordes Lucifer will be sending.”

Nick nodded. He could do that.

“Prudence, try to locate where the angels might be with your sisters.” Zelda turned her attention toward her. “We’ll want to know they’re near before they attack.” The other witch nodded, not entirely sure what to do with her hands as she ignored Ambrose’s gaze.

“The one Dorian trapped in his painting might have an idea too,” Nick added as he remembered the one who’d tried killing him and the other warlock. “From the group that called themselves the Innocence. We might be able to get some information from him.”

Zelda nodded. It was worth a shot. “Talk to Dorian. Get him to interrogate the angel.”

She looked over at her niece. “Sabrina. We need to locate the spear and scythe first before we go looking for him. If we don’t have them when he comes for us or we go to him...it won’t end well.” Sabrina nodded. “Where was the last place, Ambrose?”

“A monastery in the Balkans. I’ll get you the name,” Ambrose pushed up from the stairs but didn’t move to get it yet.

“The three of us can head there in the morning and we’ll see what we can find.” Zelda glanced over at Hilda and Sabrina again, waiting for their nods. “Ambrose, we’ll need you to speak with the mortals.” She sighed at Sabrina’s sharp look. “You and Hilda will already be busy and Ambrose is the only other one here who knows them well.”

“I’ll make sure they're okay, cousin,” Ambrose promised and Sabrina nodded, knowing he wouldn’t break it. 

“I think that’s all for tonight,” Zelda continued. “Rest. I doubt we’ll get much time to do so in the next few days.”

Slowly the younger witches headed up the stairs, Prudence taking hold of Ambrose’s hand when he held his back, reaching for her as they turned the corner to head toward his attic room. Zelda waited until both doors were closed before looking over at Hilda. 

“We failed her,” Zelda stated, unable to stop her shoulders from drooping, the weight of everything crashing down on them.

“No, Zelda.” Hilda shook her head, squeezing her sister’s shoulder as she stopped in front of her. “Edward did. But we’ll pick up his pieces.”

“As we’ve always done,” Zelda muttered, knowing that had been their lot so far in life. She loved her brother, but his grandiose ideas had always meant trouble for them.

“Whiskey?” Hilda nodded toward the kitchen and Zelda nodded.

“We’ve certainly earned it,” she reasoned, the two of them heading toward the kitchen. Hilda retrieved the glasses while Zelda picked a bottle. 

“I wanted so much more for her.” Sabrina was supposed to be their rising star, the one that turned the Spellman name back to the glory that it had been. But that didn’t mean she needed to be trapped in ruling Hell. That was not what Zelda had wanted for her, not that kind of glory.

“We both did.” Hilda poured them both a generous glass.

“Queen of Hell. It's nothing to spit at. Just…” Zelda didn’t know how to articulate it. It should have been everything she wanted for the girl. And yet...

Hilda leaned back in her chair. “I know.”

Zelda raised her glass. “To fixing our brothers' messes.”

Hilda clinked her glass against her sister’s before taking a long sip as silence drifted between them. No more words needed to be said, the weight of everything existing between them. It was enough to bear it together for a little bit.

* * *

Lilith had been paralyzed with fear. How could she not be with the news that the Dark Lord was free? There would be no escaping him, no amount of running would keep her from the wrath that she knew he would unleash upon her. She had betrayed him and the fact that he had betrayed her time and again would mean nothing to him. He would focus only on her grievances and justify them to torture her for however long he desired. 

Death would be too merciful.

The hounds guarded the room as she paced back and forth, trying to determine a course of action. They snapped at anyone who approached, keeping the minions and any other demons from getting anywhere near her. _Sabrina_ had done that. She vaguely remembered the girl’s words, the spell that offered her protection, the hounds bound to protect her.

Lilith stopped walking and took a breath as she closed her eyes, listening to the unspoken words of the realm. She hated that it had chosen the child over her, but perhaps that had actually been a good thing. If it had been her sitting on the throne instead of Sabrina when Lucifer had been separated from the warlock, Lilith knew that the Dark Lord wouldn't have hesitated to cut her down. Sabrina wouldn’t have had the power level that she did now to stand against him and their defeat would have been bloody and swift.

But now...she had felt the girl give into Hell, letting it lay claim to her and binding herself to it for all eternity even as she’d been listless on the floor. There was a possibility that the girl could take him on, destroy her creator as she’d done with the sliver of him that he’d left inside of her friend. 

She would need training though or doing so might tear Sabrina apart. 

Lilith hesitated as she looked out the window and at the throngs of tortured souls. 

Would that be so bad? With both Morningstars gone there would be an opening for Hell’s ruler and none would be able to challenge her claim then. Maybe staying put and biding her time would work out for her after all.

“Mistress?” one of the minions called from the doorway, eyes widening at the hellhound ready to attack.

“What is it?” she asked, turning to look at the lesser demon.

He held a box, intricately wrapped. “It just arrived, for you.”

“Leave it on the floor and go.” She waved her hand, dismissing him as he completed the task.

The hellhound sniffed at the box before walking away from it, demeaning it non-threatening. Lilith picked it up and slowly unwrapped it, uncertain what could be inside of it. She dropped the box as soon as she lifted the lid, hand pressed to her mouth to stop her screams as the fetish doll that Adam had given her dropped to the floor.

A card slid free from it, revealing the Dark Lord’s writing.

_See you soon._

That cemented it.

Even Hell wasn’t safe for her any longer.

* * *

The knock on the mortuary door had everyone peeking out of their respective bedrooms before Zelda headed down the stairs, muttering about the hour while the others stood at the stop of the staircases, looking down. 

“You three, of course,” she sighed as she pulled open the door, letting Roz, Theo and Harvey inside. “I take it that getting your things from your place didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, Rosalind?”

“No, that went fine,” Roz nodded toward the boys. “But then these two showed up before I could get back.”

“I saw Dorothea,” Theo started as Zelda closed her door.

Sabrina was already heading down the stairs toward them, Nick following behind her. “Your ghost ancestor?”

“Yeah. She said the witch hunters are coming to town,” Theo told her as he was pulled into a hug. “There’s a war coming.”

“And I’m pretty sure they’re at my house,” Harvey added as he took hold of Roz’s hand.

“Pardon?” Hilda asked as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs.

“Your family is from a long line of them so it's not surprising,” Prudence muttered and Harvey swallowed at that.

“I don’t think these are human ones like my grandpa?” The unease he’d felt around the men and women came back to him, causing the hairs on his arms to rise. “But more like what we faced earlier in the year.”

“Angels,” Nick muttered, his chest tightening at the idea. They knew it would be happening but to have them so close... He looked over at Sabrina, remembering the sight of her with arrows piercing her chest. It hadn’t mattered that she’d risen from the bed, unharmed, that image of her was forever seared into his mind.

“Pretty sure they saw the hounds,” Harvey added.

“Dorothea said something about the hounds too,” Theo told them. “They have a new master. I’m guessing that’s you.”

Sabrina nodded and then gestured toward the kitchen. “Come on. There’s something I need to show you guys.”

“I’ll make some tea?” Hilda offered but Sabrina shook her head. “Get some extra places to sleep ready then?” 

“Yeah, thanks Auntie.” Sabrina offered up a small smile at the others, trying to convey that she could do this part of her own. Every witch but Nick headed back up the stairs and she knew he wasn’t going to let her do this on her own, which was fine. Having him there helped. 

Sabrina took the paintings from the spot where her aunts had placed it and pushed it across the table toward her friends. They took it in, glancing up at Nick and Sabrina before looking back down at their significant appearance in them. “It’s the prophecy that my Aunt Priscilla drew and my father’s been trying to get to happen for centuries now.”

“As in Edward Spellman?” Roz asked, looking up at her. She hated that her friend nodded and reached over to squeeze Sabrina’s hand. There were so many emotions playing out in Sabrina’s face, but betrayal was the one that was winning out.

“Is that your aunts?” Theo asked, touching the images of Zelda and Hilda on the painting.

“You’ll see Ambrose and Prudence on it too,” Nick told them and Theo’s fingers slid over to their two images as well.

“Wait.” Havey picked up the one that was centered around Nick, touching the three figures in the background. “That’s us?”

Theo and Roz leaned toward him, eyes widening as they took in the images. “We’re in the prophecy too?” Theo asked as Harvey put the painting back down.

“The seer, the one who communicates with the dead, and the would-be hunter,” Nick touched each one as he said it.

“What does this mean?” Roz asked, rubbing at her temples.

“We don’t know exactly. My father told us what he thinks it means and what he orchestrated for the last couple hundred of years but...we’re still trying to figure it out.” Sabrina hated that she didn’t have better answers. She wanted to tell them it meant nothing, to wipe it from their minds and send them all home. But that wouldn’t keep them safe. Nothing would until Lucifer was destroyed. “Tomorrow my aunties and I are going to look at the last place the spear was located to see if there are any clues. And I need to retrieve the scythe from Hell.”

“If it's in Hell,” Nick reminded her and she sighed at that.

“What can we do?” Harvey asked, looking between the two of them.

Nick bit back a smart remark and Sabrina squeezed his shoulder, grateful for the restraint. “It might help to know which angels we’re dealing with?” he suggested. “The last ones weren’t big names. These ones might have more power.”

The trio looked at each other, nodding, before looking back at them. “We can do that.”

“Get back here if there’s any trouble though,” Sabrina added. “We put new wards on the house. Anyone wanting to harm anyone inside of it won’t be able to cross the barriers.” She sighed as Nick collected the paintings and put them back in their spot. “I’m so sorry, guys.”

“Please, Brina,” Theo shook his head, shrugging off her apology. “Even if we weren’t in the prophecy we’d be trying to figure out a way to help.”

“We’re with you until the end,” Roz reminded as she rounded the table, pulling her friend into a hug. “Forever.”

Sabrina hugged her back tightly, grateful when the other two joined in. It was almost like old times, before their lives had been turned upside down. She just hoped their end wouldn’t be anytime soon. “Let’s figure out where you’re crashing tonight,” Sabrina murmured as she pulled away.

* * *

Sabrina stretched out beside Nick, resting her head on his chest as he ran his fingers through her hair. His other arm he had draped across his stomach, their fingers nearly touching but not quite yet. There were no words exchanged after they’d changed into their pajamas, Salem taking up residence on the bed and glaring at the door. He didn’t appreciate the hellhound that paced outside of it. Nick couldn’t blame him; he wasn’t all that fond of the hounds either. 

He hadn’t seen them when he was in Hell, and while he was thankful that he’d never been tortured by them before, he’d remembered hearing their howls in the distance. There would be little sleep for him if they continued to do so as they patrolled the grounds outside the mortuary. 

“What do you remember about your parents?”

Nick blinked before glancing over at her. It wasn’t where he thought the conversation would start but he wasn't too surprised considering everything that happened with her father. “My mother smelled like marigolds. I think it was because of her shampoo. Maybe a perfume. She liked…” Images of his mother reading fluttered in his mind, listening to her tell him about their ancestors, the great line of Scratch’s that he was descended from. “She liked to read. I remember reading with her or watching her read.”

“Probably where you got your love of books from,” Sabrina murmured, her fingers brushing against his, but she made no move to hold his hand yet.

“I think so.” Books had always been a comfort to him. Something he could depend on when everything else in his world was falling apart. He’d missed having them when he was hiding with Amalia. When he was brought to the Academy books had been how they had eventually gotten him to open up, to start living as a warlock and not as the wolf pup that Amalia had treated him as. “My father had a deep voice. I don’t remember anything he said, none of the words make sense when I try to remember them, but I remember how deep it was.”

“And nothing else?” 

He shook his head. “Laughter. But I don’t know why they were laughing. Crying. And…” Screams. He couldn’t shake his mother’s screams. “What do you remember from when you were little?”

“Nothing of my parents but I was only a couple weeks old when they died.” She had tried so hard to conjure memories of that time, desperately wanted a scent to remind her of her mother or father but nothing ever did. She knew that Diana Spellman had worn a vanilla scented perfume. She had the bottle on her vanity but spraying it didn’t bring back a familiarness like she’d hoped, no matter how many times she might have done so.

Not like the smell of gingerbread cookies reminded her of Hilda or Ambrose was a mix of pine and the product he used on his hair or how Zelda smelled of roses. They were embedded into every layer of Sabrina and always would be. 

“I remember Ambrose used to make my dolls dance for me. Aunt Hilda helping me roll out dough so we could cut out cookies. Theo and I running around his farm and trying to catch the chickens.”

Nick laughed at the image of tiny versions of the two running around after chickens. “You met Theo first?”

“Yeah. Before I started at the school. We usually buy different things from their farm and Aunt Hilda would bring me along when she went to pick things up.” She shifted, propping herself up on her elbow so she could look at him better. “We used to get so dirty. Aunt Zee would lecture me every time I came home muddy.”

“Which only made you get dirtier the next time?” He grinned as she nodded, knowing that would be her answer. Nick could see a stubborn five year old Sabrina purposefully traipsing through mud to Zelda’s annoyance.

“I met Roz and Harvey in kindergarten. The four of us were inseparable ever since.” They had done everything together until they didn’t and even hadn’t lasted too long. “Did you have friends growing up?”

“It's not like that in witch families.” Nick turned, shifting to rest on his side. “We’re fairly isolated when we’re not at services with the coven.”

Sabrina nodded. It was hard to imagine but also it wasn’t. “I guess that’s why they’re so close. My aunts. They had each other all these years.”

“You meet more your age once you’re in an academy,” he explained. At least that’s what he remembered it being like.

“But when do witches and warlocks usually start attending academies?” Because she didn’t know the answer to that. 

Nick watched as she scrunched her nose, a sure sign she was annoyed over all that she didn’t know about witch culture. “Officially? The year before their Dark Baptism. You’ll get some who start earlier--like the Weird Sisters and me. Some other families might send their kids earlier than that as well. But official learning starts by fifteen.”

Sabrina pursed her lips. “I’m just an anomaly all around.”

“You’re a rebel,” he reminded her, tapping her nose.

She snapped at his finger. “And you like your witches like that.”

“Did you memorize everything I said?” he mused, leaning closer so that their noses were nearly touching.

“Only the lines that I liked.” She shifted closer still, resting a hand against his chest. “Do you remember your parents’ familiars?”

Nick pushed at his mind, worked to pull those images forward but it was like looking through a fog, seeing an outline but not really knowing what was there. “My dad’s was a wolf. My mom’s...” He couldn’t picture it, the edges of his memory to blurry to make out. 

“Like Amalia?” 

“No. Not a werewolf. Just a normal one. A grey wolf.” He was pretty sure that was the answer.

“How did you even get her? I thought we didn’t get familiars until our Dark Baptism?” She traced her fingers along his shirt, right over his heart, making no real pattern as she drew.

“She was a gift.” He remembered that much.

“From?” 

Nick caught her hand, linking their fingers instead. “I don’t know, Sabrina.”

“Funny how there’s so much neither of us know, except you know, not at all funny.” She was doing that nose scrunching again and he stroked a finger along it, liking the way her breathing hitched at his touch.

“I think it might be deliberate.” He’d been wondering if everything was connected since learning he was part of the prophecy but Nick wasn’t sure how to tell if that was the case. They seemed to have nearly all the pieces to the puzzle that was their life but no clear idea on how to put them together. 

“It feels like it.” Sabrina reached over, brushing the crease in his brow. “I wonder…”

“What?” He caught her hand again, linking their fingers together.

“We’re trying to locate the spear. Should I try to figure out where the Dark Lord is?” It could be helpful to know but she also wasn’t sure if he could feel her doing so.

Nick shook his head, wondering the same as her. “No. Him not knowing that we know he’s not in Hell is an advantage we don’t want to give away just yet.”

“We’re going to need the scythe too.” There had to be a reason it was on the painting. “I really think it's in Hell.” It felt like that was right to her. 

“Maybe.” Nick shifted onto his back. The idea of her heading back there turned his stomach. Especially now with the Dark Lord roaming around. If he got to Sabrina there...

Sabrina pushed herself up so she was sitting beside him, missing how close the two of them had been. “I’ll ask Lilith. She’d know.” 

“Do you think she’ll be honest?” Because Nick wasn’t so sure.

She shrugged, staring off toward the door. “I never know with her.” All Sabrina did know was that the older woman would be looking out for herself. Whether that helped them or not remained to be seen. She’d thought giving Lilith the crown meant that the woman would help and the Mother of Demons had tortured Nick. Sabrina didn’t want to make a similar mistake again.

Salem hissed at the door, the hellhound on the other side was making whimpering sounds and scratching at it. Nick sat up, and the two watched as the goblin moved forward, swiping at the hellhound under the doorway. “Salem,” Sabrina chided as the cat ran back, his back hunched as he perched himself on top of her dresser. “Please stop antagonizing the hounds.”

He hissed again before settling down to give himself a bath. “You know you’re still my favorite.” she tossed a pillow at him but it landed on the floor in front of the dresser. He hopped off and down onto it, intent on utilizing it as his bed for the evening.

Nick tugged at her, drawing her back to lay down next to him. “We should try to get some sleep.” They were going to need it.

Sabrina nodded, drawing the covers over them as he snapped his fingers to turn off the lights. He settled in behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist, and kissing her lightly on the shoulder as she rested her arm across his. It didn’t take long for sleep to come, exhaustion pulling both of them under.

* * *

The reddening of the room around her, shifting from the grassy outside she’d been meandering through, alerted Sabrina to the fact that she was no longer in her dream. The prickling of familiarity pulled at her and she steeled herself as she turned around, spotting the Dark Lord. 

“Hello, daughter.”

She clenched her fists, mentally screaming for Nick before quickly cutting off that cry. _No_. The last thing she wanted was him to be around the Devil. He’d dealt with him enough already. She could handle whatever this was on her own. It was fine. 

“What do you want?”

The sense of pride she could feel coming from him had her stomach turning, the idea of pleasing him far more upsetting than she’d thought it would be. “You completed the final step. You’ve taken your crown, doled out its power, accepted that you’re bound to it forever.”

He stepped toward her, circling her as he moved, stepping closer and closer with each pass. “And you like it.”

Sabrina wanted to refute that, but she couldn’t. She _did_ like the power, she always had liked having it, even when she’d willingly given it over to the mandrake. She’d missed it, felt less than whole without it, and now, with the powers of Hell behind her there was a completeness that she’d never felt before. Though part of her still yearned for something else, even if she wasn’t sure what it was.

“The power that surges through you, finally letting you know why it is that you were born. No more drifting between two worlds that were never meant for you in the first place,” he continued, and she hated that he echoed verbally how she felt internally. “Mortal. Witch. You’re so much more than either of them.”

“Shouldn’t you hate that I have dominion over Hell?” she snapped, wanting to shift the discussion.

“You have dominion to a degree.” He stopped in front of her.

“I think you’re lying.” Because that didn’t feel right.

He laughed, amused. “You forget that I created Hell.” 

“And now I’ve claimed it and Earth will not be its tenth circle,” Sabrina told him, jutting her chin out as a new wave of defiance surged through her. “It doesn’t need two masters. And why would it claim me if it still wanted you?”

He narrowed his eyes at that, the amusement he’d been displaying swiftly changing to anger. “As much as I do enjoy that sharp little tongue of yours I won’t hesitate to cut it out.”

“Was that supposed to scare me? Hell bends to _me_. It shifts to my desires now. Not yours. Do you even know if it’ll still listen to you?” She kept pushing.

“Do you think my demons will follow you instead of me?” The Dark Lord laughed at his own question, but Sabrina simply scoffed.

“I don’t care if the demons follow me. They can all die. I’ll make something new.” She was certain that she could, her confidence making her bolder. “But Hell. It chose a Queen. It has no use for you.”

“I am your father.” Lucifer reminded, his voice rising with the next words. “I am its King. “

“Are you though?” Sabrina lifted her chin, the colors around them swirled, shifting to the blueish green she associated with Hell instead of the red of his own. “Because you’re not who I choose to sit at my side and rule.”

He laughed, his voice echoing throughout the space. “The warlock. _Sabrina_.” The smile that he directed at her was anything but pleasant. “Hell will eat him alive.”

Sabrina shook her head. “Not even you could do that.” 

“Didn’t I?” He looked so smug, beyond pleased with himself.

“Oh, you tried. But love beat you. Just as it always has and always will.” Because Nick hadn’t lost control. He’d kept Lucifer at bay for weeks on end and it had broken him, but he’d survived it, coming out free unlike anyone else who’d stood up against the Devil. There would be scars, there was no denying that, but he would live a happy, free life if she had anything to say about that. 

“You don’t deserve anyone’s love. The demons don’t love you. They fear you. And you force it from witches and warlocks in an exchange for limited power. But that’s going to stop. They won’t need you and I won’t demand that from them. You’ll become nothing. A myth like all of the other gods and goddesses before you.”

He roared at that and she was slammed with energy, the force of it causing her to skid backward as his rage blew at her. She nearly buckled under it, pain lashing through her body, but a hand caught hers, holding on tightly. Sabrina didn’t need to look back to know that it was Nick, his presence bolstering hers and keeping her upright. Power surged between the two of them. The glow from earlier surrounding them and then surging outward, knocking the Devil back before pulling them out of the dream and into the safety of her room.

They woke, sitting straight up in the bed, and then turned, reaching for each other. Sabrina pressed her face into the crook of Nick’s neck as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. She clung back to him, working to catch her breath as he attempted to do the same. Slowly, they laid back down, still holding onto one another. 

“He’s not going to hesitate now,” Sabrina breathed out. “We need to find that spear.”

“We’ll wake the others once you stop trembling,” Nick murmured, rubbing her back, trying to soothe her. “Breathe, babe.” 

It was that endearment from him that helped the most, reminding her of how far the two of them had come. They could do this. All of them. They just had to trust in one another.

* * *

The room shook as Lucifer rose from the dream, the earth around him trembling in response to the rage that bubbled over. It cracked, sending ripples out into the surrounding town. The cacophony of screams from the mortals who lived in it only egged him on, letting his anger continue, causing more damage to the place. 

Clouds rolled in above, thunder and lighting dueling for dominance as hail pelted down. He moved to the large windows, watching as the strikes of lighting revealed chaos in their wake as they briefly brightened the darkened sky. Houses and trees caught on fire as they were struck and Lucifer swayed to the music of it all, enjoying the cries that increased.

His gaze stopped on his arm, eyes narrowing at the charred skin. It was already healing, but the sting of pain that had rippled through him at the joining of Nick and Sabrina’s powers was something he’d never felt before. He’d sensed when Sabrina had destroyed that sliver of him that he’d left behind in her friend, but it had mattered little. She wouldn’t have the strength behind her to do that to all of him for decades to come and he was certain he could bend her will to his long before then. 

But _this_ combination of power into something new wasn’t something he’d ever experienced before and it brought about an emotion he hadn’t felt since his Fall.

_Fear_. 

It left an awful taste in his mouth and wouldn’t do at all for what he had planned. He would not be scared of the child he’d meticulously planned for and brought into the world. God did not fear his own creations and like Heaven would he do so.

Plans needed to shift, moving forward faster than he had meant for them to. But that was fine. He could adapt. 

Lucifer left the bedroom he’d woken in and headed out into the rest of the house, pleased that the demons whose presence he’d requested still bowed to him. Their fear reverberated off the walls, but so did their reverence and that was something his daughter didn’t seem to see. He was their ruler and they would not listen to some upstart teenager, no matter if Hell laid claim to her or not.

“May we spread our deals to the locals?” Beelzebub asked as Lucifer sat down on the throne he’d fashioned in the largest room. 

“They weep for help,” Purson added.

Asmodeous cackled. “Their souls will be ripe for the taking.”

Lucifer waved his hand. “Do as you wish. Claim them for our home and then hurry back.”

“It is time?” Beelzebub glanced over at the other two, their anticipation growing. “We don’t want to wait for more of our brethren to arrive?” 

“No need.” Lucifer glanced down at his hand. “Hell may have laid claim but she’ll be paralyzed with grief once we’ve disposed of the others. A task I’m certain those of us here can easily manage, hmm?”

The three of them bowed in agreement. 

All of Sabrina’s friends and so-called family would die. Earth would be his, just as it had always meant to be, and Sabrina would take her place at his side, to rule for all eternity. 

She would not cast him aside as easily as God and his fellow angels had. 

He wouldn’t allow it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pieces are all coming together.
> 
> Next chapter, Lilith, Spellman adventures, Ambrose and Nick, and let's learn the spears location. Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

_If you have been brutally broken,  
but still have the courage to be gentle to others  
then you deserve a love deeper than the ocean itself.  
_

Sabrina flicked on the light to her Aunt Zelda’s room, unsurprised to find that her other Aunt was sleeping in the bed she’d been occupying for most of her childhood. Aunt Hilda had moved out earlier in the year to one of the other bedrooms, putting some distance between the aunts, but with everything going on it was comforting to see them back together.

“Aunties.”

“Sabrina?” Hilda’s voice full of sleep as she wiped at her eyes, blinking to try and wake up. “The sun isn’t even up.”

“I know, but Lucifer came to me in my dreams and let’s just say it didn’t go very well,” Sabrina explained, watching the two of them sit up quickly at that revelation. They were alert now, any remnants of sleep gone as they got out of the bed, pulling on their robes. 

“Of course it didn’t.” Zelda shook her head, unsurprised that more had been added to the ever growing fire that they were dealing with, but she’d hoped they would have a brief respite. “Let us get dressed and we’ll meet in the kitchen before heading off to that monastery.”

“Is Nick waking up the others?” Hilda asked as she headed to leave and change.

“He’s getting Ambrose and Prudence.” Sabrina glanced toward the room where the Roz and the boys were located. “I’ll wake up my friends next.”

“Might as well let them sleep,” Zelda pointed out. “If they try heading back to Harvey’s house at this hour it’ll be suspicious. They should continue on with what was planned and head over after breakfast.”

Hilda patted her shoulder before squeezing past to head to her room and Sabrina nodded, ready to head downstairs when hellfire swirled in the middle of the room, leaving Lilith behind in its wake. Zelda and Hilda had their arms up, magic swirling around them and ready to attack as they stepped in front of Sabrina.

“Now really,” Lilith chided, shaking her head at the theatrics. “Don’t you have wards in place that would have kept me out if I meant to harm any of you?”

“Considering how often your loyalties shift that doesn’t mean much,” Zelda replied, and the Mother of Demons smile faltered, turning into a sneer.

“Why are you here?” Sabrina asked, placing her hands on her aunties arms to get them to lower them. 

“Hell isn’t safe for me anymore.” It was hard to admit even that sliver of vulnerability. 

Sabrina frowned, knowing something had to have happened for Lilith to say that. She’d left her protection. “What did he do?”

The first witch looked away, the ghost of a smile on her face before glancing back at them, her features hardening. “He sent me a reminder of what happens when I cross him.”

“And so you came here out of the goodness of your heart?” Zelda asked, not buying the sob story. They had been played several times by the woman in front of them and nearly lost Sabrina because of it. She wasn’t about to let it happen again. “Or are you planning to try and drag Sabrina to him like you did before?”

Lilith pressed her lips together, tired of addressing the aunts and their doubts and focused her attention on Sabrina instead. “I sealed all of the entrances before I left. Only the ruler of Hell will be able to unlock them.”

“Won’t he be able to?” Hilda asked, raising her hand. “He is the Dark Lord. Ruler of Hell.”

“Technically he isn’t the ruler.” Lilith gestured toward the teenager. “Sabrina is.”

“How can you be so sure?” Hilda arched a brow before looking over at her sister, who nodded, agreeing with the question.

“Because it reacts to her emotions while she’s up here and not his.” That was a hard thing to admit and not something she’d taken much notice of before when she’d thought Lucifer locked away in a sleeping spell encased in her wall. But knowing he had been out there the entire time and Hell hadn’t reacted to him since Sabrina had accepted the crown cemented the idea for her. “Not once has it raged like it did with him. There’s anger there, but that’s over you being here and not there, not a reflection of your father’s emotions.”

“So he can’t unlock the doors?” Sabrina asked, because that would be good.

Lilith tilted her head. “Not in the conventional ways that would have opened up doors all over the world.” Which was most likely his plan of attack. With Sabrina’s existence and acceptance, with her having blown the horn already, Lucifer should be able to open every single door and unleash Hell upon Earth. But since she’d locked them from the inside a fellswoop was no longer in the cards. “He’ll need to go directly to one in order to get what he wants now. We’ll want to guard the ones near here. In the mines.”

“And Riverdale,” Sabrina reminded. The one she’d gone through with her friends to retrieve Nick.

“Yes.” The damnable door that had caused all the issues.

“Are there any more nearby?” Because they would need to monitor them.

Lilith shook her head. “Not for over a couple hundred miles. You would be alerted to their opening before they were able to get here. It's the other two that would cause more problems.”

“Thank you for the information.” Zelda motioned toward the door. “I’m sure you can see yourself out.”

“Auntie Zee,” Sabrina started.

Lilith narrowed her eyes as she looked back at the older witch. “I am here to help.”

“For now. You’re here to help _for now_.” Zelda shook her head, resting her hands on Sabrina’s shoulders. “We can count on that to change as soon as it suits you.”

“She’s my regent,” Sabrina pointed out as she turned to face her aunts.

“Sabrina,” Zelda started, but her niece was already shaking her head.

“We still might need her. And what’s that saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Sabrina was pretty sure that’s how it went. She didn’t trust Lilith off on her own, plotting against them or even simply plotting to save herself. It was better to have her close where they could keep an eye on her.

“Or simply your enemy,” Zelda muttered, looking over her niece to glare.

“If Lucifer wins this game, I’ll be tortured for eternity. He won’t kill me but there are far worse punishments than death and he’s had eons to perfect them.” Lilith grimaced at the possibilities and Zelda swallowed down the sympathy she could feel trying to rise up, reminding her of how Faustus had treated her after they were married. “I think we can all agree that Sabrina needs to destroy Lucifer.”

“Yes, but she hardly needs you assistance with that.” Zelda shrugged. It wasn’t a revelation that the task would fall to the girl.

“She’s done it once to the piece he left behind in Rosalind,” Hilda added, and her sister nodded. 

Lilith tsked as she glanced over at Sabrina. “You didn't tell them what it did to you, did you?”

Sabrina squirmed under her aunt’s gazes, not wanting to answer that question. “What does she mean?” Zelda demanded, causing her to sigh.

“It hurt her to do so. _Badly_.” Lilith tried not to smile, enjoying the small in she was creating for herself. “Because she doesn't know how to wield it correctly yet.”

“Sabrina?” Hilda reached over, touching her arm.

“I managed the pain.” Sabrina tried to make that sound reassuring but she knew from both of her aunt’s expressions that she’d failed.

“What can happen to her?” Zelda asked, reaching over as if she was brushing something off Sabrina’s shoulder so she could touch her.

“She could burn herself out as other celestial beings have,” Lilith replied. “It happened with some of the other angels that were cast out with the rebellion when they tried to rise up against the Dark Lord in those early years.”

“You can help that not happen to her?” Hilda asked as both her and Zelda rested their hands on Sabrina’s shoulders. Zelda pursed her lips as Lilith nodded. Something was off with the entirety of the situation, but she couldn’t discount the possibility of it if Sabrina had been hurting after destroying the sliver of Satan. But she didn’t trust her, knowing nothing was ever completely straightforward with the other woman.

“I’ll do my best. Plus, I brought this,” Lilith continued with a wave of her hand. The scythe appeared. “I believe you might have use for it.”

Sabrina reached out for it and it flew from Lilith’s grip and into her hand. The surge of power that spiked through her once she held it nearly overwhelmed her, but she caught Zelda’s hand, using her aunt’s strength to steady her. She noticed they were all staring at her and caught her reflection in the mirror on the wall. A halo of hellfire circled above her head before blinking away as she let go of the scythe, letting it clatter to the floor.

“I’ll put it in your room,” Hilda murmured, retrieving it from the floor. 

“You’ll be coming with us,” Zelda told Lilith as she urged Sabrina to head out with Hilda. “I’m not trusting you in this house alone.” Lilith opened her mouth to reply but Zelda stepped forward. “And if you betray my niece, nothing will stop me from personally delivering you to Satan to do his worst.” 

She turned on her heel, intent on changing, not caring how the other woman might respond. Lilith narrowed her eyes, barely holding back the urge to strike down the older witch, but the hellhound in the room growled at her, letting her know that it was there to protect Zelda. The house seemed to close in on her as well and Lilith dropped her hand, extinguishing her negative thoughts and headed out of the room. 

Maybe it would be best if she stuck by Sabrina’s side for a bit.

* * *

Ambrose scanned the room, leaning back against the wall, watching the young witches and warlocks attempting the spell that Nick was trying to teach them. They were doing better than Ambrose had thought they would be. Power reverberated through the room, its own kind of aphrodisiac, and it surged forward as they completed the spell. They were giving each other claps on the back, cheering each other on for getting the spell right, but Ambrose shifted his gaze to Nick and he knew it wasn’t good.

The warlock was rubbing at the back of his neck with one hand and flipping through one of the journals with the other. His brow was creased in frustration as he quickly scanned the text, murmuring to himself.

Ambrose pushed off the wall and headed over, nodding for everyone else to take a break. “How are they doing?”

Nick turned another page, marking it before moving on to the next. “We don’t have enough time for me to teach them everything.” He looked up, shaking his head as the others were filing out of the classroom for their brief respite. “Even with the significant power boost they all seem to have.”

Ambrose squinted, looking more carefully at Nick. “You haven’t gotten yours from Sabrina?”

“I’m not having her tie herself more to that place for me.” If he could hold it back from her even just a fraction of an inch he would. 

“I’m pretty sure that ship has already sailed, Scratch.” Ambrose picked up one of the journals as he sat down on the edge of the desk. His cousin was irrevocably tied to Hell. There was nothing any of them could do about that and Ambrose wasn’t sure Sabrina would want any of them to do so either. He knew his baby cousin. It wasn’t just the power that would have her claiming Hell and allowing it to claim her. It was the fact that doing so protected her family and friends.

Sabrina Spellman had a savior complex. Had since she could walk and talk. Probably before then even.

Nick shrugged, finally sitting down in the chair. “I don’t care. I’m not doing it.”

“And she was okay with that?” Ambrose pointed the journal at the younger man.

Nick arched a brow. “What do you think?”

Ambrose leaned forward, book tucked between his knees. “I’m sure you were able to distract her enough with that mouth of yours.” The pointed look Nick gave him at that only caused Ambrose to chuckle. “But you’re right, we can’t learn everything. So let’s try and figure out which ones to focus on.”

“Binding.” Nick leaned back in the chair, nodding to himself. “We don’t need to conjure them. Satan is going to try and use them against us which means they’ll already be here. We need to know how to bind them and get rid of them.”

“Any ideas? Because that’s a lot of different binding spells to learn.” The higher level demons usually had a specific one for them.

“Yes actually.” Nick rose, picking through the stack of Edward Spellman’s journals as he looked for the one that had the spell he needed. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what kind of cover it had. It wasn’t one of the newer journals. It was older, one of the first he’d ever read. He placed the more modern journals to the side, the ones bound with animal skin, quickly flipped through, the fading of the ink what he focused on then until he found the spell he’d been looking for.

Nick read over it, needing to make sure it was the correct one, going over the paragraphs before and after it that contained Edward’s thoughts about the spell. There were always tidbits in those for how precisely to manage the spell, pieces that if ignored meant the spell wouldn’t work correctly. 

He mouthed the words as he did the hand movements, reacquainting himself with it, confidence in it growing as he repeated the motions. His mother’s voice echoed in his mind, saying the same words and images of her doing it flickered there as well. He couldn’t make out the demon she was capturing and bending to her will, but another voice echoed, congratulating her on her accomplishment.

It wasn’t his father’s voice and Nick blinked, working to place it, because it sounded familiar now.

The memory flashed again, his mother’s hand brushing through his hair, before she attempted the spell again, the man giving out pointers and Nick closed his eyes, trying to force the memories to keep going, to be clearer, to reveal the secret that was just out of reach. The man spoke again and Nick’s eyes opened wide as he finally recognized it.

_Edward Spellman_.

It had been Edward Spellman.

Edward Spellman had been in his house with his parents.

Unconsciously, he looked to his left, to where Sabrina was usually situated while scrolling through the books with him. But she wasn’t there and he ached for her, wanting to share this revelation, to get her thoughts on what it could all mean.

“Scratch?” Ambrose asked, reaching over to touch his arm. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Just another piece of the puzzle that doesn’t make the picture any clearer,” Nick muttered, not willing to expand beyond that. He needed to tell Sabrina about it first. “But this is the one for us to focus on.” He handed the journal over to Ambrose. “We should be able to bind and banish multiple creatures of Hell with it. Even more if witches and warlocks work in pairs.”

Ambrose hopped down off the desk. “I’ll go wrangle the group.”

Nick nodded, taking the journal back, looking over the words again for some other meaning. He needed to look at the pages with N.S. written on them again, certain that he had missed something before. The others were filing back into the room though. He’d look at the journals again after they had mastered the needed spell.

* * *

It was almost a relief to be stepping foot into the chapel on her own. She loved her aunts, but between their sniping with Lilith as well as the two of them trying to pull out exactly what she’d experienced after blotting out that bit of Lucifer, Sabrina was ready for the break. Had baptising her been part of her father’s plan? She knew it had been her mother who had done it, so she’d have a choice in her life, but had Edward Spellman orchestrated that as well? Maybe said the right things, put the ideas into his wife’s head so that she would do what he needed done?

How had that conversation gone so that she would accept the Devil blessing them with a child? How had he explained that she would be lost to her parents forever? Had Edward just assumed that they would be dead soon enough and hadn’t bothered to tell her mother any of that? How could he claim to love Diana and drag her down the path that he had? Was that love?

Sabrina dug her nails into her palms as she closed her eyes, trying to quell the anxiety mixed with anger that seemed to be rising with each of her thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. Too much was at stake. She had a task to finish. 

She vaguely recognized the iconography painted on the walls, though the stories she knew that were tied to each of them didn’t line up with the ones told within this room. She stuck close to the tour she’d been trailing along with, listening to the guide explain what everyone could see and the various stories that went along with the building.

Her interest piqued as he mentioned the spear briefly before moving along to the exit of the chapel and heading back out into the outdoor courtyard of the monastery. Sabrina stayed behind with a few of the others who were still looking at bits and pieces. She utilized the Latin that she knew to read the inscriptions on the walls, but there was no mention of the spear. 

The last of the tour group exited and Sabrina moved to do so as well when the door swung shut, the air inside of the chapel turning cold. It wasn’t her father, this felt similar to him but different enough for her to know it wasn’t him. She turned around, spotting the young man standing at the opposite end of the room.

Angel.

There was the same power she’d felt from the ones in the church before, but this was different, _more_. It was the kind that ran through her veins, but even that wasn’t right because hers was different ever since she’d truly claimed Hell.

“I’m guessing this isn’t a social call?” 

The flaming sword that appeared in his hand was answer enough, but the accompanying earthquake that went along with it was a nice dramatic touch. 

“Are all of you this fond of theatrics?” Sabrina asked, sighing. She could see where the devil got it from. It made a lot of sense why he’d enjoyed their little masquerade song so much now. It had to be a family trait.

“Our God is a forgiving one. Banishment instead of extinction.” She didn’t like the way he was swinging the sword. “And yet, Lucifer was unable to see the gift he was given.”

Always with that guy. Like she had any say in anything he did. “Take that up with him.”

“He knew the rules. What he was allowed and unallowed to create,” the angel continued as if she hadn’t even spoken, which only irritated Sabrina further.

Were all angels jerks? She was pretty sure it was also a shared trait. “Again, not my problem.”

“You are the thing he wasn’t supposed to create.” He pointed the sword in her direction.

Yeah, definitely not good. “ _Sabrina_. Not a thing.”

The angel didn’t reply to that, simply moved faster than she could have imagined toward her, the flaming sword ready to slash her in half. Time seemed to slow though and she watched his eyes widen in horror as she raised her hand, clearly controlling it--even if Sabrina wasn’t entirely sure _how_ she was managing that. Hellfire spread from her back, mimicking a pair of wings, another ring of it creating a crown and halo on her head. 

The hellhounds materialized beside her, growling at the angel and ready to attack. 

“Like I said. _Not_ a thing.” She stepped toward him, hellfire licking at her heels. He was suspended in the air, frozen in place, his wings now visible. “And I’m not a fan of other beings trying to kill me either.”

“We will not cease until you no longer exist.” There was no emotion in his words, none in his features. It was eerie. At least Lucifer expressed anger and jealousy...pride. This nothingness was worse.

“I don’t care about whatever quarrel you have going with the guy who gave me half my DNA but let your little angel buddies know that I will destroy each and every one of you if you come for me again.” She flung him back at that and the sword fell to the floor, the flame dying out. 

The angel reached for the sword but Sabrina lashed out at it with Hellfire, sending it to Hell, far from the angel’s reach. “Two Morningstars cannot exist at the same time. You threaten the entire balance of the universe.”

“Thanks for the information, but I’m handling that.” Lucifer wouldn’t exist for much longer.

The angel shook his head at that. “Destroying Lucifer won’t be enough. Not if you continue to exist on Earth.”

But...“He comes to Earth.”

“For brief moments here and there to tempt man. Not to live.” The angel rose and Sabrina knew what was going to be said before he continued and she wanted to will him to keep his mouth shut, to not hear any of it, but she couldn’t. “If you truly wished to save this world, you will leave it and never set foot on it again once you’ve rid it of him.”

The angel disappeared in a flurry of light and Sabrina stared at the place he’d been, her chest clenching tightly as his words replayed in her mind. The hellhounds whined, nudging her legs. She took shaky breaths, working to calm down before she needed to see the aunties again. The hellfire extinguished around her and she reached down, petting the hellhounds, allowing them to comfort her as they desperately wanted to do. 

Leave Earth behind.

Never see her aunties again? Her cousin? Her friends? Nick?

That couldn’t be the answer. 

She blinked, waiting for the depression to sink in as she realized her fate, but it didn’t come. What he’d told her just didn’t jive with what she knew about Hell and Earth and Heaven. Angels lied though. They twisted the truth to try and get the outcome that they wanted. She had seen that play out before. They killed witches for the False God. 

Maybe there weren’t supposed to be two Morningstars. Sabrina could see that being the truth, that the Devil was never supposed to create a child and try to expand Hell to Earth. But Lucifer and his demons had been roaming Earth without consequence for eons. Lilith had done so for months as well while masquerading as her teacher.

Plus she wasn’t just a Morningstar.

She was a Spellman.

She was part mortal.

Sabrina rose from the floor, sending the hellhounds back off to the perimeter and left the chapel, finding her aunts and Lilith waiting for her in the courtyard. Their concern was palpable, damage from the earthquake the angel had caused apparent in the surroundings.

“Yeah, it's not here,” Sabrina started, but Zelda waved that off.

“What happened?” her aunt demanded.

“Some angel tried to kill me with a flaming sword.” Sabrina shrugged. No big deal.

“Uriel,” Zelda muttered. It had to be. He was the one always depicted with the bloody thing.

“Not just any angel. An archangel,” Lilith hummed as she stepped over a piece of the chapel’s siding that had fallen off. “We truly are at the end of days.”

“Yes, thank you for the needless commentary.” Zelda gave her a sharp look before focusing back on Sabrina. “What did he say?”

“Not much.” It was a lie, but she glanced over at Lilith before scrunching her nose, trying to convey to her aunt that she didn’t really want to get into it around the Mother of Demons. “It was mostly coming at me with the flaming sword. But at least _that’s_ gone.”

“Gone?” Hilda asked.

“I willed it away.” Her aunt simply nodded at that, her look reminding Sabrina of when she’d willed the jewelry box into the house from the Academy. “But anyway. I don’t think we’re going to get much information about the spear from here. I have a feeling the answer is going to be in dad’s journals somewhere.”

“And why is it that you believe that?” Lilith asked and the three Spellmans glanced at one another, silently debating on whether or not to reveal the prophecy to her.

“Let’s get home, shall we?” Zelda suggested, extending a hand for Sabrina and Hilda to take. Sabrina held out another to Lilith, knowing there was only so long that they would be able to keep the other woman in the dark.

* * *

Nick rubbed at the back of his neck, unable to shake the feeling of coldness that had settled in his stomach a few minutes back. He couldn’t figure out where it had come from, nothing that the other witches or warlocks were doing was reason enough for it, and so he’d pushed it aside, focusing on the task at hand. But they were all filing out and while the coldness wasn’t as pressing, it still lingered as if trying to tell him something.

Salem stared at him from the spot he’d decided to make his own on the desk, ignoring Ambrose’s entreaty to curl up in his lap. His tail swished back and forth and Nick squinted as he felt the familiar tug of a familiar trying to brush into his head. He hadn’t felt that sensation since Amalia and Salem wasn’t his, there shouldn’t have been a way for him to do that unless they had chosen one another. 

He eyed Salem carefully, trying to get some sort of feeling from the familiar, but the cat just stared back before shifting to start cleaning himself. 

Ambrose and Nick turned at the sound of someone arriving via teleportation, watching as Sabrina, the aunts and Lilith appeared in the back of the room. The coldness swept through Nick again as he locked gazes with Sabrina.

“What happened?” He was up off the chair and heading toward her in seconds, Ambrose rising as well and looking toward the aunties for an answer. “Sabrina?”

“Archangel. I handled it,” she tried to reassure him as he stopped in front of her, sliding his hands up and down her arms. “But no spear.”

“We’ll figure it out.” It had to be somewhere and as long as they could get to it before the Dark Lord… “The sisters are working on it too and with the three of them combined they should be able to figure out something.”

“At least narrow it down to a country maybe,” Ambrose muttered. Though hopefully they would be able to be far more specific than that.

“How is training going?” Hilda asked as she moved to sit down. 

Lilith stayed to the side, watching and observing what was happening. There were plans in place, ones that she hadn’t been privy to yet, and pretending to be part of the scenery usually helped reveal what those were. Especially when this lot was involved.

“They’re picking it up faster with the new ability level Sabrina doled out, but hopefully we have a few more days to practice it,” Ambrose replied. “We don’t want them choking halfway through and getting the incantations wrong because it's so new.”

“We’ll have them practice again after dinner,” Zelda made a note to let the students know that. Being able to handle the hordes of Hell was infinitely more important than their herbology assignments. “Classes will be forgone until we have this right.”

“Maybe there’s another clue that we missed in the prophecy,” Ambrose suggested. They kept picking up on new bits whenever they looked at it. Couldn’t hurt to have another go at the thing.

“Prophecy?” Lilith piped up and Ambrose nearly flinched at the look Zelda directed at him, holding up his hands in surrender.

“That’s on a need to know basis and you’re not family so you don’t need to know,” Hilda replied before Zelda could, knowing anything her sister said would be infinitely worse. 

Zelda simply nodded as she moved to stand behind her sister, still glaring daggers at Ambrose who had picked up Salem as some sort of shield. 

“Ah, yes, we’re at the part where we keep secrets from one another instead of working together to defeat our common enemy.” Lilith smacked her lips together, unsurprised by their lack of trust.

“It's not like you’re in it,” Nick replied, and it was Sabrina’s turn to try and soothe the rising emotions in him. Being near Lilith set him on edge, the memory of her torturing him and ordering demons to do so sharp and unyielding. 

“And you are?” she looked over at him, ready to see the anger at not being included, but there was none of that. _Interesting_. A prophecy that involved the warlock? 

“So we’re pretty sure we know who they are,” Theo called out as he burst through the doors, Roz and Harvey close on his heels.

Attention turned toward them, though Nick shifted, wanting to keep Lilith in his sights as well. His grip on Sabrina’s waist tightened, needing her presence to help ground him. 

“Michael. Gabriel,” Harvey started, laying down polaroids of the two he’d named.

“Raphael and Azazel,” Roz finished, setting down her two photographs as well. “We figured it might help to have an idea of what they look like.

“Well, you guys are the--” Ambrose coughed as Zelda elbowed him in the side.

“So, we’re dealing with archangels,” Sabrina started, casting her cousin an apologetic glance as he rubbed at his side. 

Laughter filled the room and they all turned to look at Lilith who had taken a seat at one of the desks. “Not just any archangels,” the Mother of Demons shook her head. “The warrior, the messenger, the healer and the angel of death.” She chuckled again, before looking over at Sabrina. “They truly do not want you around.”

“We can always let Lucifer run Hell again if you’d really like,” Sabrina snapped, even as she kept a grip on Nick’s arm. She could sense that he wanted to lash out at the other woman and that wouldn’t help any of them.

“You killed angels with Hellfire last time,” Lilith continued, ignoring the remarks and looks. “Regretfully that won’t work with archangels. They’re like your father in that regard.”

Sabrina’s stomach clenched at the words ‘your father’. He was not her father. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to claim Edward Spellman as that either at this point, but Lucifer Morningstar definitely didn’t get any claim to that role in her life.

“So what kills them?” Ambrose asked, steering the conversation toward something relevant. Emotions were high enough in the room. There was no need to add more fuel to the ever growing fire.

“Their blade.” Lilith shrugged. “Or any angels’s blade should do the trick. But an archangel one would be better.”

“Guess it's a good thing I took Uriel’s then.” Sabrina willed it into the room, letting it appear on the desk next to the photographs. It was only one though. They were going to need more for her friends. “Do we still have the ones the last angels left behind?”

“I think Dorian kept the weapons from the angel that attacked us,” Nick told her. Ambrose raised his hand and pointed to himself, indicating that he could retrieve those.

“Um.” Harvey started, shifting from side to side as attention turned to him. “I don’t know if it's the same but we have one that looks like this in my dad’s study. Dad said it was a family heirloom.”

“Your family is from a line of witch hunters,” Zelda reminded as she moved toward him. “It’d make sense if they had angelic blades. It's probably what they use when killing witches.” She nodded toward the sword. “Pick it up.”

She waved for the others to move back and Harvey glanced over at Sabrina, not sure if he should do as her aunt had directed or not. Once he got the nod of approval, Harvey lifted the sword. It was surprisingly light considering how big it was. The fact that it caught on fire as soon as he’d lifted it was definitely the most startling part and he dropped it, letting it clatter to the floor.

The fire stopped as soon as he’d let go though and he looked down at his hands, no sign of burns. It hadn’t felt like it was hurting him, but flaming swords were definitely not something he dealt with on a day to day basis. 

“I think we’ve located the weapon that you’re to use going forward, Mr. Kinkle,” Zelda told him, nodding toward the sword on the floor. “Rosalind, if you can handle it for now, please.”

Roz nodded and picked it up. Nothing happened when she held it. “Do you think you can retrieve the other one from your house?” Zelda continued, pleased when the boy nodded, and then directed her attention toward Theo.

He was already shaking his head. “We have nothing like that at my house.” 

“No, I think your task will be something different, Theo,” Zelda told him, and Theo wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing or not.

“The angels are going to go into town tomorrow to look around,” Roz told them. “Probably meet up with my dad’s congregation.”

Lovely. “Let’s double check the wards of the Academy,” Zelda directed, glancing around at the witches. They shouldn’t be able to get inside, but Archangels were a different breed all together. Caution was needed.

“We know where the spear is,” Prudence started as she entered the room, Dorcas and Agatha walking beside her. 

They set the map they had been using down on the desk, a hole was seared into the middle of the Appalachian mountain range in Maine. “That narrows it down at least,” Hilda commented as they all crowded around the table.

Prudence scoffed. “Oh no, that was just the first step.” She placed down an index card that had an address seared onto it. “This is where it's being kept.”

Nick’s breath caught as he stared at the card. It was an address he knew all too well, even if his memories of the place were scattered and incomplete. He heard Sabrina murmur his name, felt her hand on his back, and the rest of their gazes on him, but he couldn’t get the words out at first. He took deep breaths, refusing to give into the rising panic in front of Lilith. She was not allowed to see him break down, not allowed any satisfaction over the pain she’d caused him. 

Sabrina’s strength flowed through him and he caught her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“That’s my family’s house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lilith is just one of those players you never know if they're there to help or not, but at least we're learning a bit more about how the trio of mortals will play a part in everything? And Nick's house!
> 
> Next chapter will be a lot of Nick and Sabrina, with quite a bit of Nick backstory in it, plus Fright Club, Spellmans, and Lucifer.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Head's up that once Sabrina and Nick do return to the Spellman mortuary in this chapter they do get intimate. So if you do not want to read that part, skip once they return to the next bit. Happy reading!

_The problem with people is they forget  
that most of the time  
it’s the small things that count.  
_

Lilith ran her hand through her hair as she watched the conversation unfold. Everything with the lot of them was so unnecessarily dramatic. She’d thought dealing with the Dark Lord and the demons of Hell had been tiring, but none of that had prepared her for teenagers. They were _exhausting_. She’d thought it before when running the school, but they had become even more draining in the last few weeks. Having to deal with a group of teens needed to get added to the list of tortures to be doled out.

“Do you honestly believe letting Mr. Scratch accompany Sabrina to his apparent family home is enough protection?” she asked, glancing around the room, her gaze stopping on the aunts. Surely they saw the folly in the idea.

“I’m pretty sure she protects us.” Ambrose grunted as Prudence elbowed him in the stomach, shaking her head. _What?_ , he mouthed, grinning over at her as she looked away with a sigh.

“Precisely.” Lilith turned her attention back to Sabrina. “And with the Dark Lord running freely around, waiting to pounce, finding you on your own with a lowly warlock as your only buffer seems foolhardy.”

Zelda shook her head, silencing the rebuttal that Sabrina had wanted to retort with, and Lilith arched a brow, wondering again what was being held back from her. “I think what my cousin is trying to say is that I don’t need a babysitter,” Sabrina finally said. “And you’re not welcomed at where we’re going.”

Lilith shook her head, thoroughly finished with the logic of teenagers. “It's not a matter of being welcomed or not--”

“It is when you _tortured_ Nick for your own twisted therapy,” Sabrina snapped, and Lilith smacked her lips, knowing there was nothing she could say in her defense of that. Besides, she didn’t regret doing it. There would never be another opportunity for her to get revenge against the Dark Lord for all he’d done to her throughout the centuries. “Besides, my aunts are going to need you here. Prove that you’re actually going to be useful.”

Hilda made a face at that and Zelda shook her head again, quieting another response. 

“I’m supposed to be working with you on your powers,” Lilith reminded, attempting that angle instead.

“We’ll get back to that when we return.” Sabrina shrugged.

Lilith looked over at the aunts again. Did they forget the consequences of what could happen to their niece if she wasn’t prepared. “Every moment that we delay--”

“None of it will matter if we don’t have the spear,” Ambrose pointed out, and it appeared that it wasn’t simply teenagers that were adding to her headache, but every Spellman.

“Surely Mr. Scratch can retrieve it on his own,” Lilith propositioned.

“ _No._ ” Sabrina tightened her grip on Nick’s hand. There was no way she was letting him go back there on his own.

Nick was ready to agree with Lilith, to suggest taking Ambrose with him instead, but the thought of heading to his family home without Sabrina was nearly paralyzing. He remembered what had happened with Lucifer in the dream world, the way they had been able to thwart his attempt to hurt Sabrina, and knew that the two of them sticking together was the best course of action for if the Dark Lord did show up. If they could do that in her dream, then the possibilities were endless for what they could do out of them.

Zelda pushed a stack of paper toward Lilith. “You can make a list of any demons or other Hellish creatures who you think would happily be following the Dark Lord right now.”

Lilith stared at it before glancing up at Zelda. “I might need more paper.”

“We’ll ensure you get it.” Zelda turned back toward the others. “Do we have any other objections or can we get started?” No one said a word. “Splendid. Let’s start then.” 

Ambrose rose from his chair, holding up his hands as his aunt gave him a pointed look. Prudence nodded toward her sisters, helping them gather up the map and retrieving a few more candles from one of the classroom cupboards. 

Sabrina turned her attention toward her friends. “Do you guys think you’re up for this?” 

Harvey nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “It’s my house. It shouldn’t be suspicious that we’re heading back there.”

“Don’t worry about us, Brina,” Roz told her, reaching over to hold her hand for a second.

“Besides, we’ll have the hellhounds with us,” Theo added. Surely they could add some more protection from the angels.

“And Salem.” Sabrina looked over at her familiar. He meowed his approval before moving to rub against Theo’s legs, demanding to be picked up. 

“We’ll see you in a couple of hours at the mortuary.” Roz reached over to rub the cat’s head, a silent ‘be safe’ passing between all of them before the trio left.

“As loathe as I am to agree with her,” Zelda started as she approached the two, ensuring they were far enough away from Lilith’s prying ears. “I’m not certain the two of you going on your own is the best idea either.”

“You need Prudence and her sisters here to help you with the wards,” Sabrina reminded. “And Ambrose to keep working with the others on the spell Nick was teaching.” There wasn’t anyone else to come with them.

“Do not dally.” Zelda pointed a finger at the two of them, looking between the two for a sign of agreement. She might not trust her niece to adhere to the directive, but Nicholas seemed to be more level headed. “You get in, you locate the spear and you return here. Understand?” 

“We won’t stay there longer than we need to,” Nick assured. He wanted to be there as little as possible.

“We’ll see if we can pinpoint it to a room, Nick, and send word if we can,” Prudence called out to them and Nick nodded. 

The two disappeared in a swirl of hellfire as Sabrina teleported them away. Zelda stared at the spot for a moment before turning to look at everyone who was still in the room. “Get to it,” she demanded, waving them out.

Only Hilda and Ambrose lingered behind.

“If they’re not back here in two hours, we’re going after them,” Zelda started, shrugging off her sister’s attempt at reassurance.

“They’ll keep one another safe.” Hilda believed that with her whole heart. Neither Sabrina nor Nick would let harm come to the other if they could help it.

“Starting the clock now, auntie,” Ambrose promised, the clock in the corner of the classroom beginning the countdown. 

Hopefully they were worrying for nothing.

* * *

The house reminded him of the Spellman manor back in England. There was a sense of magic to it that had been felt there, though this one wasn’t as old. The forest that surrounded the place had begun to take over, vines winding their ways up the wooden siding, and branches cracking through broken windows. The grass was tall, weeds taking over in various places, and the rose bushes overextending upward and outward. It didn’t quite connect with the images he could remember, the meticulously kept exterior damaged beyond repair. Who knew so much damage could happen in such a little amount of time. 

It had been years though, over a decade since anyone had lived in it, and Nick supposed that was enough time for the earth to reclaim the space that had been carved out of it.

Sabrina rubbed at his arm and Nick could feel her gaze on him, but he didn’t look over at her yet, his attention fixated on the front door. He’d been here a few years before, determined to go inside, but he’d never made it past the entrance. The spear was inside there though and he couldn’t let old ghosts keep him out any longer. 

Nick linked their fingers, needing to touch her as he took a deep breath before nodding, as ready as he could be to make this final step. “Aperti ianuam.”

The front door creaked open and the two headed down the pathway and finally into the house. “Lux candelarum.” 

The candles lit the wall and it was eerie how similar the entrance to the house reminded the two of them of the Spellman manor. There were portraits on the wall of various Scratch’s from long ago. Bits of pieces came back to Nick as they stopped at them, memories unlocking like they never had before. “My great grandparents and those are my grandparents,” he murmured, taking in the paintings of the men and women.

“So the hair and nose are a family trait,” Sabrina murmured and he took a closer look at that, noting the similarities. 

“Everyone says I look like my father,” Nick told her as he led her forward, knowing the next one would be of his parents.

“I favor my mom. Which is probably a good thing considering...everything.” Sabrina’s eyes widened at the portrait of his parents. It was like looking at what Nick would look like in several hundred years, though she thought his eyes were definitely more like his mother’s. 

They stood there for a few minutes, neither quite able to move as they looked at the portrait. Maybe they could bring it back with them or something smaller and similar. Something that would allow him to have a piece of them back with him in Greendale. “The kitchen is down that way to the right,” Nick told her, nodding in that direction. “I doubt we’re going to find anything there.”

Probably not. Sabrina glanced around, trying to figure out where exactly a spear might be displayed or hidden. “Did your dad have a study? Or is there somewhere that your parents worked on their spellwork?” 

Nick paused, forehead furrowing as he tried to remember where such a space was in the house. Memories replayed in his mind, showing a younger him running through the hallways, Amalia on his heels before heading toward the back of the house to see his father working at a large desk. “This way.”

They passed by another row of pictures of the family, but unlike the portraits these were black and white photographs displayed on the walls--showcasing moments of his parents in various countries and ones of Nick throughout the years. Sabrina tugged at him to wait, nodding toward one that showed him with his parents. “We should bring it with us.”

Nick swallowed as he looked at it. That had been the last one taken with them, a few days before they had been murdered and he’d been carried away into the woods. Part of him didn’t want to touch it, afraid of what might come back to him when he did so, but the other wanted to have it, needed to have one more piece of the life he’d lost. 

He nodded and Sabrina reached over, taking it off the wall, and held it close as they headed further into the house. The dark stain on the rug ahead of them had the two of them faltering though and Nick nearly tripped over his own feet as his mind was overrun with memories of how that had happened. 

The witch hunter shot his father with arrows as his mother dragged him into the library, trying to lock the door with a spell. There were angry voices, he couldn’t make out what was being said as his mother opened the passageway and shoved him into it. Amalia was already waiting, picking him up even as he struggled in her grip trying to get back to his mother. 

He could help. She didn’t have to try and fight them off on her own. 

Wasn’t he their brave, little warlock?

He could use the new spell he’d learned from their friend’s journal. If he could just remember how it started. 

Why couldn’t he remember how it started? 

He only had needed another minute, the words coming to him as the passageway door slammed shut, cutting him off from his parents.

His mother’s screams were the last thing he heard before Amalia knocked him out, easing her ability to run away with him. 

Nick dropped to his knees, unable to stop the tears from coming. He barely heard Sabrina as she moved with him, but he sunk into her touch, sought it out as he pressed his face into her neck, arms wrapping tightly around her as more and more memories pushed their way back to him. Watching his parents do their work, practicing spells, showcasing his own abilities to their friends, the sense of pride that filled them and him when he got a harder one correct. The little ruffles to his hair before they left for another month-long journey, leaving him to his tutors and Amalia as his only companions, followed by little trinkets as gifts for their time away.

But it was the last words he’d heard the witch hunter ask his mother that kept ringing in his ears.

_“Where is it witch? Where’s the spear?”_

* * *

The hellhounds waited at the edge of the road, Roz suspected in an attempt to steer clear of a direct sightline to the windows of the Kinkle place. Salem hissed as Harvey parked his truck, the three mortals glancing at one another. “Okay, so it's in the study that we never actually use,” Harvey started, reviewing the plan in his head.

“We’re saying we need a book for the school project we’re working on.” Theo thought it sounded like a reasonable excuse. “But we’re not mentioning that unless someone asks us what we’re doing.”

“And we stick together. No getting separated inside.” Because they would be vulnerable if they were cornered. Together they had a better chance of getting in and out. Roz looked over at the two boys, waiting for their nods of confirmation.

Salem growled lowly, back hunching up as he stared toward the front door. “I don’t think you doing that is going to help, Salem.” Roz brushed his hair, trying to calm him down.

“I’m pretty sure bringing him inside is going to be suspicious as well,” Theo pointed out. “It’s not like we usually walk around with a cat.”

Salem shifted, snaking his way into his shadowed goblin form and wrapped himself around Roz’ waist, hidden by the jacket that she wore. The three of them froze, slowly looking over at one another. “Did that just…”

“So…”

“Not a cat.”

“I have so many questions.”

“I thought he was a cat.”

“I thought he was just telepathic.”

“Focus,” Roz told them, taking a deep breath. Everything they learned about Sabrina’s world shifted their own, opening them up to endless possibilities. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. 

“Yeah, if we sit in the truck any longer I think your dad is going to wonder what’s going on with us,” Theo pointed out and they collectively took a breath before finally getting out of the truck.

They headed into the house, Harvey with his arm slung over Roz’s shoulders and the three of them in the middle of a conversation like they normally would have been. “Hey, Mr. Kinkle,” Theo called out.

“You boys ready for the game on Saturday?” Harvey’s dad asked, glancing over from the game he’d been watching with his dad. 

“It’ll be a good one.” Theo gave two thumbs up as the trio headed back further in the house, bypassing the guests who were milling about the kitchen. Roz’s hand grazed one of them and she swallowed hard, leaning into Harvey as a vision shoved its way fast and hard into her sight. He seemed to understand what was happening and helped get her into the study as though nothing was wrong.

There was blood everywhere, blinding light shining at them as Harvey reached for the sword. His head was sliced off, rolling to the ground as Theo’s fell next before she met the same fate. The images shifted, showing multiple scenarios, all of them ending in their deaths if they tried to take the sword.

“Roz?” Harvey asked as he helped her sit down on the chair.

Theo looked over at the display of weapons on the wall. There was the sword, nearly identical to the one back at the Academy, and a few smaller daggers arranged around it. 

“Don’t take the sword,” Roz warned, still trying to catch her breath. 

“Roz?” Harvey tried again. 

She looked between the two of them. “We need to go. _Now_.” 

The door swung open before they could move, one of the angels standing in the doorway. Salem slipped from her waist, screeching as he launched himself forward, knocking the angel over before it could do anything. The three of them bolted, heading out the back door and toward the woods, leaving the truck behind. Salem was hot on their heels, the sound of the hellhounds moving forward to attack whoever exited the house after them.

“Don’t look back,” Roz panted as they ran through the woods, desperate to get to the safety of the mortuary.

Salem moved behind them, tripping up anything that got near, a hellhound working to tear at the other creatures, to slow them down as the trio neared the Spellman property. They fell across the border of it and Roz rolled onto the ground, staring at the grass. 

“Don’t look at them,” she warned as Salem covered the three of them, shielding them from the angel who tried to cross the protected border. The three held each other’s hands, squeezing their eyes tightly closed, as the sound of crashing could be heard with each attempt the angel made.

“You have chosen the wrong side, children,” the angel warned, but the border wouldn’t budge, their friend’s magic keeping them safe.

Salem hissed at them to stay down, the hellhounds snapping at the angel until it finally retreated. “C-can we?” Harvey started, cautiously looking over at Roz and then Theo. 

“Get to the house,” Salem ordered them before slipping back into his cat form and leading the way.

“He can talk…” Theo glanced over at the other two who’s eyes had widened like his own, their mouths dropping open. 

“Let’s just get to the house,” Roz breathed out and they trudged forward, the hellhounds guarding their backs until they were at the stairs. 

None of them knew how to tell Sabrina that they had failed to retrieve the weapons that they were going to need.

* * *

Sabrina gently rocked back and forth, holding tightly onto Nick even as his body had begun to stop shaking. The grief that ran through him reminded her briefly of Lupercalia, after she’d killed Amalia, but this ran deeper, his sobs harder than they had been for that last remaining member of his family. She had a feeling it wasn’t even just his family that he was mourning at this point, but everything that had been torn asunder in his life, shattered by the games of madmen. 

_I have you,_ she willed him to know. She wouldn’t let him go. They could walk this path together instead of suffering through it alone. Because he wasn’t alone. Sabrina didn’t care what angels said about her needing to stay in Hell, she wasn’t leaving Nick to walk through his life by himself. 

Slowly, she threaded her fingers through his hair, murmuring words to him, so many promises spoken in that moment and she meant to keep every single one of them. His arms tightened around her as he breathed out her name before shifting back so that he could look at her. Nick leaned his forehead against hers as they both closed their eyes, fingers linking as they let the silence fall between them again.

“They were here for the spear,” he told her, his voice barely audible.

“What?” Sabrina pulled back slightly, moving to cradle his face between her hands as he looked at her. 

“The witch hunters.” Nick glanced at the stain of red on the rug behind them “The ones that killed my parents.” 

Of course they were. 

Of course it was somehow linked to everything going on.

Sabrina’s eyes widened as she took in the scene behind them on the wall across from the stain. “Nick…” She nodded toward it, hand gripping his tightly as he turned. He swallowed hard at the image of blackened wings seared into the wall.

It hadn’t been mortal witch hunters like he had always believed. 

“Why were angels trying to get the spear?” Sabrina murmured, trying to wrap her head around this new bit of information. Had they been wanting to kill Lucifer for a while? Was it insurance? Was there another reason entirely that they didn’t know yet, waiting to be revealed, to drop another revelation on them?

Memories slammed into Nick, and he closed his eyes as they played out, remembering the bits and pieces he’d forgotten for so long. His mother was showing him the spear. It was hung against a wall in a darkened, cavernous room. “We must guard it always, Nicholas,” she explained, brushing curls back from his eyes. “Until it's meant to be wielded.”

He’d made a face at the gesture, annoyed by the attention. Funny how now he’d do anything to get it back. “By who?” 

“The greatest warlock the world has ever known,” his father had replied as he changed out the candle that helped light it.

“We’d thought it would be...well it doesn’t matter.” His mother sighed, tugging at him to leave, but Nicholas was transfixed.

“I’m going to be it,” he’d told them, huffing a bit at their amused laughs.

“You have a long way to go in your spellwork for that to happen, mon petit loup,” his mother had told him as she finally pulled him back along the passageway.

“Nick?” Sabrina called, pulling him from his reverie and he reached out for her, needing her presence to help steady him.

“I know where it is.” He pushed himself up, helping her to her feet as well. “There’s a room like back at your family’s manor here as well.” They bypassed the stained rug and Nick took a deep breath as they neared the library. Thankfully they didn’t need to head inside of it, the panel for this room was on the opposite wall. 

It took him a few moments of running his hand along the wood, trying to remember what his parents had done, the precise place they had pushed for the door to swing open. Sabrina squeezed his hand, offering up what help she could. Her presence was enough, bolstering him to keep going, to have entered the house in the first place. He didn’t think he would have made it past the entrance let alone the bloodstain in the hallway without her there.

He found the right panel and pressed inward. There was a click, signalling that he’d gotten the correct one, and a piece of the wall flung inward. Nick moved to step forward but Sabrina had let go of his hand. “It probably has the family spell on it like the manor did,” she reminded him and he nodded, moving back toward her.

“You’re my family, Spellman,” he promised before leaning forward to kiss her. Every bit of longing and promise went into that kiss, for a thousand more years together, to face whatever might be thrown at them next. She was his family, just as he was part of hers. 

Slowly Sabrina took hold of his hand again once they’d broken apart, still leaning toward one another, unable to put any distance between them again. Nick linked their fingers as they stepped forward, side by side, passing easily through the magical barrier. She let out the breath she’d been holding, smiling over at him as he squeezed her hand, his own lips turned up into a grin that screamed ‘told you’.

“Lead the way, Scratch.” She bumped into his side before he tugged her along the passageway. It was similar to the one back in the England manor, but this one seemed to be heading underground. 

It deadended into a cavernous room the candles along the wall lighting as they stepped near. The spear was hung opposite them, but it was the folded piece of paper below it, with his name in his mother’s handwriting that caught Nick’s attention. He hesitated for a moment, only stepping forward after Sabrina pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and picked up the paper.

“You must not hesitate or all will be lost,” he read, frowning at the words before tucking the paper into his pocket. “Apparently being cryptic is a thing for all witch parents.”

Sabrina snorted at that, because it definitely seemed to be true for all of the adults they knew. “It was probably ingrained into them all at a young age.”

“Something to remember to _not_ be later on,” Nick muttered, rubbing at his neck once he realized what he’d said and how that could be interpreted. 

Sabrina nodded toward the spear. “Are you going to take it?”

“Did anything happen when you took the scythe?” He glanced over at her, wanting to see her expression when she answered. So much of what she said played out on her face.

The way her face seemed to fall, nose scrunching in uncertainty almost told him more than her actual words. “I felt more power and there was a halo of hellfire.”

“Halo?” That was different. He’d seen the crown before.

“Yeah. I don’t know what that means but I guess I am part celestial.” Maybe that was all it was. “And I just held out my hand and it just came to me.”

Nick held his hand out, glancing over at Sabrina to see if it had been like that. The spear flew off the wall and into his grip before she could respond. “Yeah, like that pretty much.”

A surge of power rippled through him and he reached over to Sabrina, thankful she caught his hand, needing her to help ground him. It had the opposite effect though, their power seeming to combine and that glow coming out again to surround the two. He noted the crown of hellfire above her head again, signifying who she had become, but it was Sabrina reaching up above his own, her eyes widening as she took in the similar crown above his that had Nick catching his breath.

“He was wrong,” she breathed out and Nick didn’t have to ask who she meant. He tugged her closer and the light shone brighter, magnifying even further when he rested his forehead against hers. 

They stood there together, letting the power swirl between them, connecting them in ways they had never been before, bolstering the both of them, until Nick let go of the spear so he could touch her hair instead. The light faded as he leaned in to kiss her, needing to taste her, to have her closer. As her hands curled in his shirt in order to hold onto him as she kissed him back, putting every piece of longing into it, the light returned, shining brighter as it enveloped the two of them, bathing them in it. 

Sabrina had always felt a connection to Nick, one that she’d tried to deny when they’d first met. In some ways he’d been so different than what she’d grown up with but in others she saw herself reflected in him. That same thirst for knowledge, the competitiveness that ran through both of them, a thirst for power, and while he’d said witches didn’t know how to love, she’d seen bits and pieces that he could long before he fell in love with her. His grief for Amalia had simply confirmed what she’d already begun to know. 

Witches and warlocks were taught not to love, to give into lust and passion only, that anything else was meant for their Dark Lord, but it was a lie. One he had crafted to keep them bound to him throughout the centuries. 

The connection between her and Nick was stronger now, had been building since they’d joined hands in the last top boy ritual. She’d trusted him with Harvey’s life before then and he’d pulled through. Having him stand at her side against Blackwood had been thrilling, different than when Ambrose had always been her partner in crime when she was younger. It wasn’t her cousin doling out his wisdom to her; it was her and Nick as equals. 

He deepened the kiss and she could have sworn it was hellfire running through her veins, igniting every nerve ending on fire. 

“We should get back before my aunties come looking for us,” Sabrina murmured as she pulled back slightly before leaning in to kiss him again, not truly wanting to stop. 

Nick’s answer was to press kisses along her jaw and then down her neck, eliciting a groan from her as she leaned a bit to the side to give him better access, digging her nails into his chest. He nipped at her pulse point before soothing it over with his tongue. He reached out for the spear one more time and as soon it was inside his grasp, murmured out a quick, “ _lanuae magicae_ ”.

The spear was dropped to the side as they arrived in her room, clattering to the floor as she helped him out of his jacket. He kissed her fully again, desperate to show her how much he loved her, how much she meant to him, even as she was tugging the bottom of his shirt from his pants. She slid her hands underneath his shirt, palms running against the warm skin there and he groaned as she ran them across his back, letting her nails travel up and down. 

He wanted to let her explore, to take whatever time she might need as he helped her pull his shirt off. She was already breathing heavier as she gently pushed him backward, licking her lips as Nick allowed himself to fall back against the bed. He kept his hands on her waist, brushing his thumbs against the sliver of skin between the shirt and skirt that she was wearing, but his gaze was focused on hers, enjoying the look of determination before she leaned back slightly and pulled off her shirt, tossing it backward.

He’d seen her in far less before, but the intensity of her gaze when she looked back at him, the yearning there had Nick tugging her down and kissing her with everything he had. They shifted so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed with her straddling him as they continued to kiss, but once they broke contact briefly to catch a breath, Nick took the opportunity to kiss along her jaw and down her neck. 

He drew his fingers down the straps of her bra, groaning again against her neck as she raked her nails down his back. Nick shifted them again until she was the one sitting on the bed and he was kneeling between her thighs. 

Sabrina bit down on her lower lip as he delicately removed her stockings, so slowly that she was certain it bordered on torture. She had to take a deep breath as she tried to steady herself, body trembling as his hands caressed her skin. 

“You okay there, Spellman?” he murmured and Sabrina glared down at the mischievous look he offered up to her, but that was quickly replaced by a groan as he replaced his hands with his mouth. 

Everything seemed to melt away for the two of them as he touched her. The world, the burdens the two of them were sharing, the enormity of the situation that they were in, all of the manipulation the two of them had endured. None of it mattered in that moment, nothing else existing outside of her bedroom.

He hiked her skirt up higher, discarding her panties at some point, and Sabrina fisted her hands in her blanket as he descended on her. Her eyes fluttered shut, stars seeming to explode behind them as she gasped out at the pleasure he sent rippling through her body. She released the blanket, her fingers finding their way to his hair, snaking into his curls and tugging slightly as he continued to work at her.

She’d known he was experienced, far more than she was, but she had never expected to feel anything like this, had never managed anything near it when she’d worked at her own body. The addition of his fingers, somehow fitting like the correct key to her anatomy, pushed her quickly toward the edge.

Sabrina breathed out his name as the sensations he drew from her crested over and finally shattered, letting go of him as she tried to catch her breath. The bed shifted as he moved onto it and she didn’t need to open her eyes to see the smug look on his face, feeling it as he kissed the curve of her neck. 

“Sabrina?” 

Was that Harvey? 

The two of them sat up, looking at one another, half hoping they had imagined the other boy’s voice. Even if imagining Harvey saying her name in that exact moment was the last thing either of them would have wanted.

“Ms. Spellman? Ambrose? Is anyone home?” 

That was definitely Theo.

Nick pushed up off the bed, retrieving both of their shirts and tossed Sabrina hers. _I’m sorry_ , she mouthed to Nick as she tugged hers on, looking around for her panties. He held them out to her, breath catching at the intensity of the look he was giving her. She leaned forward, nipping his bottom lip.

“Later,” she promised, her body still reeling from the pleasure it had experienced, wanting desperately to reciprocate. 

He refrained from kissing her, needing to hold onto the last few ounces of restraint that he had as she pulled her panties back on, smoothing down her skirt before Salem pawed frantically at the doorway. Nick opened the door for the familiar, letting it head over to Sabrina as he stepped out into the hallway. 

“We’ll be down right down,” he called out to her friends before taking a deep breath, working to calm his body down. Everyone really needed to work on their timing.

* * *

Lucifer clenched his fist at his side as pain reverberated through him. The last time he’d felt anything similar--aside from what his daughter and the annoying warlock had managed--had been after his wings had been ripped from him. It wasn’t quite as intense, more like the reopening of that wound, reminding him of what he’d endured. 

He had tried calling forth the rest of the hordes from Hell, attempting to draw upon the worst of the monsters that he kept locked away down there, but the doors ignored him. Silence was their only answer and while he could feel the power of Hell that ran through him, the call of the place he had carved into his own domain, it didn’t ring the same. There was a barrier in place now, one that he had a feeling Lilith had erected, cutting him off. Another act of betrayal to add to the already long list.

He’d had such high hopes for her. 

No matter.

Sabrina would break and he’d mold her into the Queen to rule at his side that he’d always desired. 

“Archangels are in Greendale,” the demon told him after bowing and Lucifer sat up a little taller in his throne.

Finally. Some good news.

“Lovely.” A family reunion in more ways than one. “The more distractions doled out against my daughter, the quicker she’ll fall and the sooner Earth will become our Tenth Circle.”

Let them do their worst and then when Sabrina and her little crew thought they had finally won, he’d swoop in and land the final blow, reclaiming what had been his all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a little calm before the storm with some conversations between almost everyone before Heaven and Hell attack. With a lot of Nabrina. Thanks so much for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, after Sabrina and Ambrose have their chat there will be no interruptions for Nick and Sabrina so head to the next cut if you'd rather not read that!

_Whatever causes night in our souls may leave stars  
_

“Salem can you go let the aunts know we’re back?” Nick glanced over at the familiar that was bounding down the stairs after them, hot on Sabrina’s heels.

The familiar rubbed up against his legs once they reached the bottom floor before he headed out of the house to do as requested. Nick arched a brow as he watched the cat go, surprised that it had listened to him, but the last thing they needed was for Zelda and Hilda to be heading to his family home and not find them there. He knew there was no way they would have let Sabrina and him go off on their own without having a plan to check in after an hour or so.

Sabrina’s mortal friends looked frantic and out of breath, casting glances back toward the door and back at them. “What happened?” she asked, looking all of them over. No one seemed to be hurt at least.

Theo was bracing his hands against his knees as he worked to catch his breath still. “We couldn’t get the sword or daggers.”

“Roz has a vision,” Harvey explained while Roz nodded beside him. “And then the angel attacked.”

“Your cat _isn’t just a cat!_ ” Theo added, pointing to where Salem had left. “And he can _talk_.” That hadn’t been a thing they had known, right? He definitely didn’t remember that being a thing.

“No, Salem’s a goblin,” Sabrina replied, watching the three try to take that information in. There was so much that they were learning about in a very little amount of time. “We have goblin familiars.”

“Goblins are real?” Harvey gripped at Roz’s hand, needing to try and steady himself. Angels and devils sure. Okay, he could wrap his head around that. But goblins? Really?

“Are mermaids real?” Roz asked. There had to be some good supernatural creatures out there right? She knew about the werewolves. Maybe there were unicorns?

“Not in the Disnified way that you're probably thinking.” Sabrina shrugged. More like sirens leading people to their deaths.

“Disnified?” Nick frowned, trying to place that reference.

Sabrina looked over at him, grinning at the way his brow was creased while he tried to work it out. It took all of her inner strength to not reach over and smooth her fingers along it. “I’ll explain that later. Rusalka are real.”

“What’s a...nevermind.” Harvey shook his head. “I probably don’t want to know.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about the supernatural world that’s all around us,” Nick replied, and Harvey looked ready to retort, but there was none of the smirking that usually would have accompanied such a remark, so he kept his mouth shut. “There’s a lot in the Greendale woods that you’ve only heard about in your fairy tales.”

“How come we’ve never met them?” Theo asked. Or had they and they just didn’t know it?

“They don’t usually want to be seen by mortals,” Sabrina started, trying to figure out how best to explain it.

“Unless they’re dragging you to your death,” Nick pointed out and she lightly elbowed him in the side, swallowing hard when he ran his thumb down her back. 

The three nodded at that, not entirely sure how to take that information. “You’re sure you guys are okay?” Sabrina asked. Maybe she should make them tea. Aunt Hilda always did it for her and it helped when her nerves were frayed.

They nodded again. “Yeah. Sorry we couldn’t get the other sword,” Harvey murmured with a sigh, unable to hide his disappointment.

“We’re probably not supposed to,” Sabrina suggested, nodding toward the living area. “Maybe Uriel’s is all we need. Since you’re the only one of witch hunting descent, maybe you’re the only one who can use a sword against them.”

“It didn’t light on fire for me, remember,” Roz pointed out as she sat down on one of the upholstered chairs. 

“Yeah.” That was true.

“But what are Roz and I supposed to do?” Theo asked, sitting down on the floor. “Or well, what am I supposed to do. Roz already helps with the cunning.”

“You said Dorothea told you the war was coming?” Nick asked, taking a place on the sofa next to Sabrina. He wasn’t too sure who that was.

“Yeah, my great great...I’m not sure how many greats, Aunt.” Theo just knew it was a lot.

“So a ghost?” Because that was definitely important. 

Theo nodded. “Yeah. She helped get witches here hundreds of years ago. To save them from persecution. Like the Greendale Thirteen.”

“Just the Greendale Thirteen?” Nick glanced at the others. It probably had to be more than that.

“No. I think it was pretty much all of the first witches that settled here. I don’t think all of them were part of the Thirteen?” Theo looked over at Sabrina for confirmation on that.

“No, not all of them.” A lot of the coven had been from those witch lines. Even her family was. 

“Have you tried communicating with the other witches?” Nick suggested, leaning forward to focus on Theo. “They can’t have been the only ones who’ve died over the years that are connected to your aunt.”

“No. Can I do that? Would that help?” Theo glanced between him and Sabrina. “I talked to the Thirteen when they came to kill us.”

“And you got them to leave,” Roz reminded.

“A ghost army could definitely be helpful,” Nick told him and Theo nodded. 

“I’m not sure how you would do it though, Theo.” Sabrina frowned. It would make sense if that was his task though considering what the prophecy called him. “Maybe your aunt would know? Or one of mine.”

“I can try talking to her.” Theo pushed himself up, dusting off his pants, before heading out of the room, intent on trying.

Harvey rubbed at the back of his neck. Sitting around and moping wasn’t going to help any. “Is the other sword here? I should probably work on not dropping it when it lights on fire.”

Sabrina closed her eyes and raised her hands above the coffee table. Seconds later Uriel’s sword appeared on it. “Have you ever used a sword before?” Nick asked, unsurprised when the other boy shook his head. “Come on, we can work on that before we use the angel and witch killing object. I think I saw some in Ambrose’s room.” 

“Can’t any kind of sword kill you?” Harvey pointed out even as he rose to join the warlock.

“Little less likely without the holy flames.” Still possible but also easy enough to heal unless he managed to cut a throat.

Oh. Yeah. That made sense. Harvey nodded again before heading out of the room. Nick squeezed past Sabrina to follow after him, trying not to grin at the way she shifted as his leg brushed against hers when he’d gotten off the couch. 

“You okay?” Roz asked moving over to take the spot beside her that Nick had abandoned. “You seem...tense.”

Sabrina shook her head, shrugging that off. “No. I’m good.”

Roz arched a brow, clearly not believing that for a second. “Sorry. Nick and I were just...in the middle of stuff when we heard you guys arrived.” Sabrina really hoped she didn’t need to expand on that. 

“Oh?” Roz asked, before her eyes widened as Sabrina nodded. “ _Oh_.” They shared a look, thankfully understanding one another. Finally though, there was something normal that they could talk about, that didn’t have to do with any of the insanity that they were constantly dealing with now. 

“So?” Roz nudged her friend’s knee. “How was it?”

“We didn’t get to do everything but like…” Sabrina started, unable to stop grinning. She could feel her cheeks getting hotter and scrunched her nose as she nodded, laughing a little. “It was...he was...” She didn’t know how to describe the feelings Nick had managed to elicit from her, but hoped her expression showed it. 

“Yeah?” Roz asked, liking the giddiness she was seeing in her best friend. It had been months since she’d seen Sabrina look this happy. 

“ _Yeah._ ” She readied to share more when the boys returned with the swords. 

Roz was already up, motioning for Sabrina to head toward the kitchen. “Sabrina and I are gonna go make lunch. So no one is hungry or anything.” She prodded her friend to head that way, subtly moving so that the other two wouldn’t be able to see Sabrina’s face. She had her friend’s back. “But you guys should practice.”

Nick and Harvey watched the two go before glancing over at one another, neither all that sure what had just happened.

* * *

Theo chose the graveyard on the Spellman property, though he didn’t head to any of the graves, sticking to the fence that bordered it. He rubbed his hands together, trying to figure out exactly how to get his aunt to appear. She always just had whenever she needed to. He didn’t know how exactly to summon her. Maybe he should have asked that part before heading out to try.

“All you have to do is think and it will happen, boy.”

He let out a relieved sigh as he turned, spotting his aunt leaning against one of the fence posts. “How many witches did you help over the years when you were alive?”

She nodded, looking pleased that he was finally asking the questions that mattered. “It's less a question of how many I have helped and more one of how many our family has assisted. We have helped those who were persecuted for their beliefs since the first burnings.” She looked over at the mortuary for a moment and then back at him, smiling. “Even you have done much for your young witch friend.”

He didn’t really think that was true. Not to the extent that Dorothea had or his other ancestors must have. “We are all cogs in the great wheel, Theo. Even the smallest parts help make it move.”

“How can I help now? Can I call on the ghosts of the witches our families helped through the centuries?” How many was that even? A handful here and there could definitely be useful. He wasn’t entirely sure what a witch’s ghost could manage. Could they do magic still? Was that a thing? He needed to ask Sabrina that one.

“As I said, all you have to do is think and it will happen,” Dorothea reminded him before gesturing with her hand.

Theo’s eyes widened as ghosts started to appear, all in various types of clothing he’d only ever seen in history books and the occasional old family photo. It was just a few at first but soon enough the grounds surrounding the mortuary was nearly full of them. 

“Well, it seems you’ve found your calling,” Zelda commented as she and Hilda appeared on the mortuary steps. Theo headed over to them, gesturing at the ghosts that were there. 

“Can they help? Can they still do magic?” He figured they would be useless without magic. Though maybe he could work out a way to use them as a distraction against the angels then.

“Oh yes,” Hilda assured him. “They can still do magic.”

_Good_. “How do we get them to help?” Just ask? Did they require something to help?

“We don’t.” Zelda looked out at the various men, women, and children, recognizing a few of them. She turned her attention back to Theo, noting his confusion. “That lies on you.” 

Oh.

Zelda nodded to him before looking over at Hilda. “Come, sister. Let’s see how far along the others are fairing.”

Theo watched the two witches head into the house before turning back to look at the ghosts. They all watched him, curious about being summoned to another witch house. “I’m Theo Putnam. My family helped all of you as best they could throughout the centuries and now, I need your help to save my friends. And probably the world too.” But it was his friends that mattered the most to Theo. “I have no idea what is going to happen. Only that we’re facing archangels and they’re probably going to try and kill us and a lot of other people because…”

Honestly, he didn’t know why they were going to. Something to do with the Devil and balance, but it all seemed like a lot of words and nonsense to him, power plays where everyone else was collateral damage. 

“Because they can. And that’s not right. So we’re trying to put a stop to that.”

Theo looked out at them, wondering if they could even understand him. Did they all speak English? Probably not if they went as far back as Aunt Dorothea had said, but they were looking at one another and taking in his words, so maybe they did?

“Will you help me?” 

They were murmuring to one another in various languages before turning back to face him. One witch stepped forward. 

“We will be with you when you need us most.”

Then they all vanished as quickly as they had come, leaving Theo to nod. 

Well. He hoped that meant they would be helping.

* * *

Salem lay curled up in her lap as Sabrina leaned against Nick on the sofa, Prudence and Ambrose sitting on the opposite end. Roz and Harvey were sitting on the one across from them while Theo had taken up residence on the floor by the coffee table again. Cups with various levels of Aunt Hilda’s calming tea were scattered along it. The aunties were already up in bed, Lilith in the room that had been made up for her to rest in, and only the younger witches and mortals had yet to retreat to their rooms.

They had done their last bit of planning, reviewed everything that had been accomplished and would need to be worked on again tomorrow...if they actually got a tomorrow. The uncertainty sat heavily in all of their minds, leaving them on edge.

“So are we betting on odds?” Theo asked, breaking up the silence that had fallen in the room.

“We do have a prophecy on our side,” Harvey pointed out. That had to count for something, didn’t it? Their spirits seemed to lift just a little at that idea.

“So did the Dark Lord and look at how that ended for him?” Prudence reminded, spirits falling once again.

“Way to bring the mood down, Pru,” Nick murmured, casting a look toward her.

She shrugged. “I’m being realistic.”

“Can’t we have a little bit of optimism?” Harvey asked, thankful that at least Roz grinned at him.

“Can you even wield a sword?” Prudence eyed him carefully. It was ridiculous that they had to trust him with an archangel’s weapon.

“Nick and I practiced that today.” Harvey nodded toward the warlock and Prudence arched a brow at that, looking over at Nick.

“You were playing nice with the mortal?” Prudence watched him, trying to figure out the angle there but he simply shrugged. “Will wonders ever cease.”

Theo laughed and she directed her attention toward him. “What?”

“We always wondered what it was like at the Academy,” Theo started, nodding toward Roz. “We had all of these theories. They were pretty outrageous but you guys pretty much banter like the rest of us.”

Sabrina pressed a hand to her mouth to try and muffle her laugh at Prudence’s horrified expression. “Except they don’t have milkshakes,” Roz pointed out and Theo nodded to that. Milkshakes were pretty high up there.

“But also, no gym class.” Sabrina grinned at Roz’s “ooooh”. It was the little things.

“What is a gym class?” Nick asked as he brushed his fingers through her hair again.

“Needlessly running around in circles no matter what the weather is outside,” Sabrina told him as she tilted her head to get a better look at him. 

Nick frowned, attempting to make sense of the logic behind that. “But why?” 

“Exercise is healthy,” Harvey piped up, though Roz was shaking her head at him. This was not a battle to try and win.

“You can burn more calories while having sex if you do it right,” Prudence murmured, offering Ambrose a look which he reciprocated.

“Can you do sex wrong?” Harvey wished he hadn’t asked the question as soon as it was out of his mouth.

“Yes,” Ambrose, Prudence, Nick and Roz all replied at the same time which caused Theo to laugh, Harvey to wish he could be swallowed up by the couch, and Sabrina to squirm on the couch.

Ambrose eyed her suspiciously but she kept on ignoring his looks. Though looking over at Roz was really not any better. 

“I just wish we knew when it was going to happen, you know?” Theo asked after silence had fallen between them all again. “They know where we are. So why don’t they just attack?”

“Maybe they’re waiting for a particular moon? Weather pattern. Specific night?” Ambrose suggested. It was always possible that they needed the extra boost or simply wanted it just as witches did for various spells.

“Or it's to ensure we all go a little crazy with anticipation.” Lilith commented and all of them turned, spotting her leaning against the doorway. “If your nerves are frayed it's easier to pick you off.” She glanced around at them. “One by one.” 

She left, slipping back into the shadows before any of them could reply. 

“How did we ever think she was Ms. Wardwell?” Roz asked, shuddering a bit. She was the exact opposite of their meek teacher. “And why does she still look like her?” 

Harvey reached over, rubbing her arm in an attempt to comfort. “She’s right though. Frayed nerves do lead to disastrous decisions. Best bet is to try not to think about it. So?” Ambrose rose, extending a hand toward Prudence.

“I’m sure we can keep ourselves occupied until morning,” she murmured before letting him help her up. They looked at the others. “Don’t come knocking.”

“G’night.” Ambrose nodded toward all of them, gaze locking briefly with Sabrina’s for a moment, needing to make sure she was okay. Once she smiled he headed off with Prudence.

“We’re good, you two.” Roz nodded at Sabrina and Nick.

“You’re sure?” Sabrina asked, looking between her friends.

“Oh yeah.” Theo agreed, looking between Roz and her. “I think trying to sleep is a good idea.”

“How are we supposed to sleep--” Harvey grunted as Roz elbowed him in the side.

“We’re sure,” Theo and Roz said in unison while Harvey rubbed his side before nodding too.

Sabrina looked over at Nick who was studying Roz and Theo carefully before catching her gaze. She set Salem down and rose from the couch, extending a hand toward Nick, her stomach tightening in anticipation as he took hold of it. 

“See you guys in the morning.”

* * *

Sabrina took a deep breath as she fixed her hair one more time before brushing it all back to the way it had been before she’d come into the bathroom to change. She’d already been in it longer than necessary, her clothes from the day in the laundry basket, and pajamas on, ready for bed, but she had yet to actually head back into the bedroom where Nick was waiting. Her stomach felt like a mess of butterflies and she contemplated fixing her eyeliner, which was _ridiculous_. The last thing she needed to do was redo her makeup.

She almost wished that Salem was in the bathroom with her. He’d have kept her in check but he was currently lounging downstairs with her friends who were still up chatting quietly with one another. 

“Stop being an idiot and just go into the room,” she muttered to herself as she turned off the bathroom light. She’d taken on angels, became Queen of Hell, hurled monsters back into its depths. She could walk into her bedroom where her boyfriend was waiting for her. They had been sharing a bed for the last few weeks without any issue. Now was not the time to let her fear overwhelm her.

Taking another deep breath she exited the bathroom, only to find her cousin leaning against the wall, clearly waiting for her. “Cousin.”

“Ambrose.” She side eyed him. “Don’t you have your own bathroom?” She knew he did.

He cocked his head to the side before giving a little shrug. “Yours is always so much cleaner.”

Oh please. “Who’s fault is that?” 

“Don’t let me hold you up.” He gestured toward her room. “Not quite as stunning as that little red number you wore to the dance but I think Nicholas will appreciate the pink pajamas.”

She rolled her eyes at that, the tension she’d been feeling slipping away some at her cousin’s antics. “He’s seen me in them before.”

“But tonight’s different.” He had the audacity to wink at her.

Sabrina stuck her tongue out at him. “I hate everything about you right now.” 

Ambrose grinned before nodding toward her bedroom door. “Go.”

She glared at him as she walked past him. “And cousin, you might want to put a privacy charm in place.” 

For a moment Sabrina could see the benefit of having the Cain pit out back but she settled for briefly setting his slippers on fire. His yelp as he entered her bathroom had her grinning as she made her way into her bedroom, breath catching at the sight of Nick sitting on her bed. 

She swallowed, watching him flip through a book he must have found somewhere in her room, sitting cross legged in only his pajama pants. It was the way he read though, the sole focused energy he seemed to take in the task, that she’d always found the most intriguing. He was like that in everything he did, all of his attention focused on whatever was in front of him, as if he was trying to learn every piece of information that he could.

“Was that Ambrose?” Nick looked up from the book. 

“He knows what he did.” Sabrina shut the door and headed over to him, hesitating briefly before sitting on the bed. “What are you reading?”

He held up the cover and Sabrina nodded. “Frankenstien. A classic.”

“I almost read it once but Blackwood caught me with it. Burned it.” Nick closed the book and set it down on the bedside table on his side before turning back toward her. He reached over, running a finger along her bare arm. “You’re trembling.”

Sabrina opened her mouth to reply to that, her shoulders raising helplessly before she let them fall. “I don’t want to do this... badly.”

“Sabrina.” Nick arched a brow at that, wondering for a second if she was joking, but from the slightly horrified look that she had he knew she wasn’t.

“There was just a conversation about how you can do sex wrong.” She gestured toward the door and he tried not to smile at how exasperated she looked in that moment. He understood that desire for perfection, knew it all too well. “You cannot be surprised that I’m now thinking that.” 

“The way for sex to be done wrong, Spellman, is not caring about how your partner or partners are feeling or engaging during it.” Nick rested on his side, propping himself up slightly as he reached over to draw his fingers down her bare arm again. “And that’s not you.”

Sabrina shook her head. “I have no idea what I’m doing.” 

“You do,” he assured. She managed to drive him crazy with a simple look. Like the incredulous one that she was directing his way then.

“I really--” He cut her off by leaning forward to kiss her, his hands sinking into her hair as he deepened the kiss, edging in his tongue as she pressed him backward onto the bed, her hands smoothing their way down his chest, skirting the waistline of his pants.

“You do,” he assured her as she pulled back slightly, her palms pressed against his chest. “It’s a little trial and error, figuring out what parts make each other unravel.” 

His voice certainly had her unraveling, her breath coming out ragged as he shifted them again, tugging at the hem of the tank top she was wearing, waiting until she nodded before helping to pull it off of her. 

“Stunning.”

Sabrina couldn’t help but smile at that single word. It was one of her favorites that he used to describe her. She leaned forward, her lips capturing his as she pressed her hands against his chest again. His own moved up and down her back, drawing against her waist, before sliding up her stomach to cup her breasts. 

He groaned into her mouth as he felt himself grow harder at how perfectly they fit in his hands. Sabrina gasped into his mouth, head falling back slightly as he pushed her backward onto the bed, his lips finding her neck as he continued to touch her. 

They had never quite made it this far before and Sabrina closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable interruption as he moved down her body, kissing her collarbone. It didn’t come though, the rest of the inhabitants finally leaving them alone and her fingers dug into his hair as his mouth found her breast. 

She moaned, something that sounded halfway like his name, giving into the sensations that he was building within her with every touch. It was like the rise of power, intermingling with every cell, lighting her body on fire from within. She never wanted it to stop, wanted more, crying out as he moved to her other breast. Any worry about not having enough experience was quickly vanquished beneath the rolling waves of pleasure his hands, mouth and tongue managed to bring out from inside of her.

Sabrina helped him remove her pajama bottoms and panties, wanting to reciprocate, but he was smoothing his hands down her thighs again, and the pleading look he was giving her had her laying back down, letting him lead. It wasn’t as though she didn’t enjoy what was going to come next. His mouth descending on her was even better the second time around, stars exploding behind her eyes as he worked her with his mouth and fingers. 

The sound that came out of her surprised her as he pulled away a little later. Nick licked his lips and she narrowed her eyes as she pushed herself up, unwilling to let him be the only one doling out any pleasure. Any hesitancy she’d had before quickly evaporated as she let her hands wander, wanting to touch all of him, grinning as she ran her hand over the very apparent bulge in his pants. 

His answering groan only egged her on as Sabrina mimicked the pattern he’d made from her mouth down to her chest, nipping at his pulse point before moving to taste him. His answering curse had her grinning, understanding his smugness now, before she helped divest him of his pants and boxer briefs. 

Foreheads pressed together, Sabrina straddled him, no barriers between the two of them any longer. He kissed her shoulder, drawing his hands down her back as she rocked her hips, brushing up against him, her hands sliding to rest at the back of his neck. 

Nick drew back a little to look at her, wanting to make sure she was certain, breath catching as he caught sight of her in the moonlight. She looked ethereal, somehow Hell and Heaven sent all at once. The light that seemed to come from inside of them returned, flowing from the two of them, and he watched as it expanded behind her, forming wings. He nearly reached out to touch them, but they faded as quickly as they had formed, the light receding.

At her nod, he raised his hips up, the two of them meeting and joining, working together to find their rhythm. Nick had already known he would do anything for her, that he would give his life for hers if it meant keeping her alive. But for the first time, Nick realized as she kissed him again, clinging tightly to him as they continued to move together, that he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to live, he _needed_ to live, to spend the centuries by her side, learning every curve of her body, every laugh, every little detail that made Sabrina who she was. 

Hell. Earth. He didn’t care. 

They would live. _Together._

He’d make certain of it.

* * *

Lilith stared into the darkness, listening and waiting for the sounds of life in the house to finally move toward their separate spaces. No one was following her around now aside from the hellhounds who seemed to be trailing her every step. But they didn’t know where she was and wasn’t supposed to go inside the house. While loyal they weren’t exactly the smartest bunch. The last door closed but she remained sitting for a few more moments, wanting to ensure there would be no interruptions to her snooping.

Something else was playing out here. She’d heard little comments they made to one another, the hushed way the lot of them spoke about something that they all knew and she wasn’t privy to. It was grating, picking up pieces of a puzzle that didn’t add up to anything of substance for her. All she knew was that they truly believed they had a shot at not only defeating Lucifer but also the False God’s strongest archangels. It was laughable, but their conviction had her wondering why they believed so foolheartedly in themselves.

It wasn’t arrogance like she had originally thought. No, there was a reason and she meant to find out what it was. 

Quietly, utilizing centuries of perfecting becoming as invisible as she could in a crowded room to escape the Dark Lord’s wrath, she moved through the first floor level of the house, looking for anything that might give her some more insight. There was nothing at first, nauseating photographs of a happy childhood, various herbs and other plants for spells, books, candles, but nothing of importance. 

In the study she found the infernal texts from Hell and leafed through those, wondering if she’d overlooked something inside of them, but there wasn’t any page that they had lingered on longer than another. She strummed her fingers against the table, lips pursed as she looked around the room again, her determination rising.

Lilith nearly bypassed the paintings set to the side, not particularly wanting to see another dreadfully dull commemoration to a young Sabrina’s artwork, but the depiction of Hellfire caught her eyes. She swallowed hard as she took in the two interconnected images before closing her eyes. Her nails bit into her palms and anger rolled through her, bubbling into a rage that threatened to boil over.

Sabrina and the warlock. 

Depicted as Queen and King of Hell.

_Equals._

It was everything she had ever wanted and would never have. 

“What are you doing in here?” Zelda demanded as she flicked on the light.

“What is this? Who did this?” 

It wasn’t simply a painting. Lilith knew a prophecy when she saw one. Hadn’t it been enough to realize that the girl had been created by Lucifer to take the place that was meant to be hers? She’d been lied to for eons, strung along thinking that if she just did as he’d said, shown how much she worshipped and loved him that she would be given her due. 

But now _this_ , further proof cementing that every decision she had ever made had been for nothing. Following the Dark Lord through the centuries had only led to her ruin and for what?

Hell wasn’t hers.

Nothing was hers. Not even the demons that she had helped him create. That title, Mother of Demons, hadn’t meant a thing to anyone in ages.

“You know what it is.” Zelda retrieved the paintings. “And it hardly matters who created it. A prophecy is one regardless of who pens it down.” Zelda headed toward the door, pausing briefly to look back at Lilith. “He used you. There is no denying that. Only you can decide where you go from here.”

Lilith stared at the doorway before looking back at the books that had once belonged to her. _No_. They had never been hers. None of it had been. Not even during those brief few weeks when she’d been in charge. Everything had balked at her rule even before Hell had learned of Sabrina’s existence, fighting against her ideas, questioning her desires and mandates. 

“To Heaven with you all.”

She teleported away, not particularly caring where she ended up as long as it was far away from the Dark Lord and the Spellmans.

They could all destroy one another for all she cared. She was done with the lot of them.

* * *

Sabrina woke with a start, bolting upright in bed. She kicked at the covers that were currently twisted around her legs, Nick’s arm sliding from her waist as he grumbled, eyes blinking open. A warning had flashed through her, sinking deep into her bones, alerting her that something was coming and nearly on her doorstep. The hellhound stationed outside her door growled lowly and she could hear the others in the house doing the same while the ones outside of it started to howl. 

Salem was staring out the window into the darkness. The sun was only just beginning to rise, but clouds kept the area shrouded in various shades of grey even with the occasional sunlight beginning to make its way through. It wouldn’t surprise her if rain came next. 

She swallowed hard, sensing the presence of other celestials nearing as well, ones that felt like Uriel had, but further still, not quite within the same reach was the Dark Lord. Even closer to him she could feel the demons gathering to do his bidding. Nick gripped her shoulder, giving it a squeeze before they scrambled out of the bed and got dressed. 

“Do we take them with us?” He nodded toward the spear the scythe propped up against the wall.

“I don’t know.” Was it better to leave them for a last option? Were they supposed to use them from the beginning? 

They could hear the others moving about and Nick nodded toward the doorway. “Let’s get them downstairs.” They could decide from there after they surveyed what exactly the hellhounds were reacting to.

Heading down the stairs they found the others moving about between the different rooms. “And the chamomile, Theo,” Hilda directed the boy, who was heading back into the greenhouse. “That should do it for the herbs we’ll need.”

Ambrose was handing out charms to each of her friends, nodding for them to wear the necklaces around their neck. “Extra layer of protection.”

“Will it work?” Harvey asked even as he put it on.

Her cousin shrugged. There was really no telling considering what they were all getting ready to face. “Can’t hurt.” 

Zelda was looking out the window, trying to see what the hellhounds saw, but there was still nothing being revealed, only the surroundings of the mortuary. Sabrina set her scythe against the wall by the door, Nick following suit with his spear. She stepped over to her aunt, peering out the window with her.

“They’re out there,” Sabrina murmured, taking hold of her aunt’s hand. Zelda squeezed it, her gaze never wandering even as the rain started to fall, obscuring their view even more. “I don’t know what they’re waiting for.”

“We’ll know soon enough.” Zelda pressed her lips together. “Lilith is gone.”

Sabrina frowned. She didn’t trust the other woman but she had hoped she might help them, that she’d have realized siding with them was better than siding with the Dark Lord. “Do you think she went back to…”

“No.” Zelda glanced over at her then. “She saw the prophecy. She saw what the two of you are.” Sabrina looked over at Nick briefly before looking back at her aunt. “Equals as she never got to be.”

“The academy is fine,” Prudence informed them as she headed down the stairs. Thank whoever they were thanking for mirror communication. “They haven’t noticed anything but they’re alert and ready.”

“Small favors then,” Hilda breathed out as she entered the foyer again with Theo in tow. “I’ll get the last of the healing bundles over there then.”

Thunder shook the house, lightning striking down in the distance and Sabrina’s eyes widened as she spotted someone attempting to run up the driveway toward them. She couldn’t make out who it was at first, but they had to be a friend, the wards wouldn’t have allowed them to get that far otherwise. Blood obscured the face, left leg dragging slightly as the person kept heading toward them. Another boom of thunder and lightning strike revealed that it was Dr. Cee.

Sabrina wrenched the door open and Hilda dropped the bundles she’d been holding as she took in the man. He stumbled over his feet, falling into the mud, struggling to push himself up as Nick and Harvey hurried out to get him. 

Zelda caught Sabrina’s hand before she could take another step further, nodding toward the end of their land’s barrier as lightning struck again, revealing the citizens of Greendale against the barrier, various weapons in hand with Reverend Walker at the front of them.

It seemed the battle had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The battle with the angels, demons and Lucifer happens next chapter, with some unfortunate consequences for a few involved.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading.


	21. Chapter 21

_"You could rattle the stars.  
You could do anything, if you only dared.   
And deep down, you know it too,   
and that’s what scares you the most."  
_

It was chaos as the lightning flashed again, thunder roaring in the background. The hellhounds howled around the mortuary, prowling the boundaries of it and snapping at the residents of Greendale that stood just beyond it. They were people Sabrina had known her whole life, her friends’ parents in the crowd, chanting vile things along with all of the others. There was nothing but malice in their expressions, a deep seated hatred that seemed to permeate to their very bones, blocking out any of the personalities that Sabrina had ever associated with them.

Meanwhile her aunt was trying to help heal Dr. Cee who was bleeding profusely. He’d been beaten, his left leg broken, and his face a mess of growing bruises. “They--” He tried, interrupted by his own coughing fit. 

Hilda’s eyes widened at the blood that he spat out into the handkerchief he was trying to cover his mouth with. “Just lay there and let me do what I need to,” she warned, trying to press him gently back against the couch, but he was shaking his head, needing to get the words out.

“They burned the shop. The movie theater, the bookstore, and there was more,” he finally managed before falling back against the couch.

“Why would they do that?” Theo asked, looking at the others as he handed Hilda more bandages.

“Mr. Bell owns it and he’s out there with a shotgun,” Harvey nodded toward the window that Ambrose and Prudence stood by, surveying the people of the town.

“Whispers,” Roz breathed out, remembering her dreams, how the Devil had surrounded her chess piece in whispers. He’d put this into place, first with her father and then probably with all of the others. How were they supposed to fight the whole town? Their families? Their classmates and friends?

“Right.” Zelda looked around the room. “Ambrose, Prudence, Sabrina, and Nicholas meet me in the kitchen. The three of you need to guard this door.”

“But they can’t get past the barrier.” Harvey nodded toward the line outside. “Right?”

She gave him a pointed look before turning to join the others, stopping briefly to squeeze her sister’s shoulder. Harvey looked over at the other two and retrieved Uriel’s sword, holding it tightly with both hands as it erupted in flames. Roz and Theo picked up the shotguns that Theo had stashed at the house earlier and readied themselves at the door, none of them sure how they would handle shooting at anyone outside.

“Sleeping spell?” Ambrose suggested as Zelda walked into the kitchen. In theory it should work to knock out the town. 

“You do realize the issue with that though, yes?” Zelda stopped at the table they all stood around. “In order to do that, in order to let our magic affect them…”

Ambrose sunk into the chair. “We’ll have to let down the barrier…” 

“We can’t do that,” Prudence shook her head. The mortals were blocked from them, far enough away and kept clear by that barrier. There was nothing to worry about. She didn’t like the looks passing between the others. “Tell me we’re not doing that.”

“The archangels are nearly here.” Sabrina could feel them, all of them nearing the mortuary. “And the demons aren’t far behind.”

“So let them take care of the mortals first. Fodder to protect the rest of us.” It seemed simple enough to Prudence, but she could tell the others didn’t seem to agree. “I hate every single one of your do-gooder tendencies. If you make them sleep they’ll still be fodder, in the way of the hordes coming to kill us.”

“Not if we lace in a protection spell with it,” Nick pointed out and Prudence crossed her arms. 

“All of this protection for mortals who want to kill us.” It was ridiculous.

“Because they’re being manipulated by the Dark Lord,” Sabrina reasoned and Prudence scoffed at that.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe they just want us dead. That is a thing mortals want.” She knew her history. 

Sabrina shook her head. Prudence was probably right. That might be the case of some of those in the crowd, but she couldn’t see that being the case for all of them. “I’m not sacrificing all of them because of a few.” 

The house shook as beams of light that were not the lightning slammed against it. “Sabrina!” Roz called, her voice rising. “The archangels are here.” 

Hilda walked into the kitchen, her hands covered with Dr. Cee’s blood. “I--I have to move him.”

“Get him to the Academy, Auntie,” Sabrina told her. Most of the medical supplies she had put together to heal others had been taken there already. “Prudence, can you go with her?”

Prudence was ready to deny that request. She needed to stay here, where the fight was happening. Another beam of light slammed into the house, followed by more, and Sabrina could feel the magical barriers beginning to crack. 

“They’re going to go to the Academy next. Get your sisters ready,” Zelda ordered and Prudence nodded at that, casting a glance at the others, pausing briefly on Ambrose who offered up a smile before nodding. She nodded back before heading off with Hilda.

“It seems the decision is being made for us with the barrier,” Zelda continued. It would only take a few more hits before it was completely useless. “Light the candles and hold hands.” She held hers out, Ambrose taking hold of one and Sabrina the other. Sabrina took hold of Nick’s and he caught hold of Ambrose’s free one to complete the circle. 

They sang together as the light slammed against the house again, their voices steady with the lullabye, letting their magic combine and then flow out into the world beyond them. Each one of the locals slowly dropped their weapons, yawning as they laid down on the ground in order to fall asleep. The protection spell was woven next, sinking into each of them and making them impenetrable to harm from angels and demons alike. 

Light slammed one last time into the mortuary and there was a resounding crack, the floor of the kitchen tearing apart. They released hands, falling backward as her friends’ voices reverberated from the other room. Sabrina could feel the demons turning, changing direction toward the academy, ready to attack there as the angels attacked as well.

Zelda caught Sabrina’s hand, stopping her from going to them. “You both need to go and do what must be done.”

Sabrina pulled away, shaking her head. “We can’t leave you to do this alone.”

“You _must._ ” They could not be everywhere at once. “Ambrose and I will head to the academy to help there. This is a distraction. You need to go for him and end this.”

“But--”

Zelda reached over again, squeezing her shoulder. “Trust that all of us can do our parts. There is a reason we’re on the prophecy as well, Sabrina.”

“I don’t want any of you to get hurt.” Tears pricked her eyes even as she held out her hand, calling for the scythe. 

“Then go and do what you need to do.” Zelda let go and took hold of Ambrose’s hand, teleporting the two of them away.

“We have this, Brina,” Roz told her from the doorway, the crack in the floor separating them as the scythe and spear flew to Nick and her. “Go.”

Sabrina nodded, reaching out for Nick who thankfully grasped hold of her hand, interlacing their fingers before the two of them teleported out of the house, leaving her friends to deal with the approaching archangels.

“Do we have this?” Theo asked and Roz turned back toward the other two.

“We have to.” Or she was pretty sure all of Earth was going to be lost forever.

* * *

“You all know this academy like the back of your hands,” Zelda looked around at all of the students who shook with every blast made at the Academy’s wards. “Use that to your advantage. Play with the shadows, utilize the corridors and passageways to evade and attack.”

Ambrose stepped forward, motioning to the group. “And stick with your partner. Together the spell will work threefold.”

“Get anyone injured back to this room for Hilda and Elspeth to work on,” Prudence reminded. 

There was a chorus of nods before the coven scattered in their pairs, seeking out the places of the academy that they knew best. “How is he?” Zelda asked as she stopped by her sister. 

“I stopped the bleeding so as long as we make it through this he should be fine,” Hilda told her as she brushed back Dr. Cee’s hair. She grimaced at the coloring of the bruises becoming more pronounced on his face, but he was alive. It would be okay. 

“Good.” Zelda gave Hilda’s shoulder a squeeze before heading over to Ambrose. “Ready?”

“She’s going to be okay, isn’t she, auntie?” Ambrose asked as they headed out of the makeshift infirmary. “Sabrina. If she kills the Dark Lord...” 

The possibilities were endless with that, but all of them ended the same. His cousin in Hell, overseeing everything to do with it. Family breakfasts would be a thing of the past. No late night constellation sessions on the roof. He had been in that house for decades before she’d come along, wailing for attention, and now he couldn’t imagine it without her.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we must.” Because Zelda couldn’t think about that right then. How even if they won this battle they would be losing the most integral part of their little family unit. 

They headed to the front of the academy, Prudence and her sisters meeting them there, and Zelda waved the door open before stepping outside onto the front steps. The barrier was down, hundreds of demons stretched out on the lawn with the Plague Kings front and center.

“Hell has a new leader, one that all of you are supposed to bend the knee to. It no longer listens or needs Lucifer Morningstar and it will not need or miss you after today.” Zelda raised her chin as she surveyed the lot of them. “You have chosen the wrong side.”

The hellhounds appeared in front of them, growling and nipping at the demons, causing many of them to step backward. They hadn’t expected to find other beings of Hell opposing them. “These mutts are weak with their affection,” Beelzebub waved off the hellhounds. “Just as their mistress is and she’ll be bending the knee soon enough to her true lord and master.”

They were all fools if they expected Sabrina to bend the knee to anyone.

* * *

Nick and Sabrina didn’t teleport further, instead walking side by side toward the spot in the woods where so much of Sabrina’s life had been decided for her. It was there that she had been shown to the Dark Lord after her birth, there that her father had signed her name away and then she’d done the same nearly sixteen years later. It was there that she’d blown the horn to save her aunties from certain death. 

They didn’t hold hands, not wanting to showcase their expanded power anymore than the Dark Lord already knew of it. But they stuck close beside one another as they walked, fingers brushing every so often as they neared the clearing. They each carried their weapon and maybe that was a bit foolish, because they were already glowing, crowns of Hellfire above their heads, and that glow casting aside the rain and shadows that were all around them, leaving them untouched. 

Nick stopped walking and Sabrina faltered beside him, turning to look at him better. “What?” 

She could see the concern etched into his features. They were walking into the unknown and as great as it was to have a prophecy on their side, so had Lucifer and that hadn’t exactly gone well for any of them. Least of all the warlock standing in front of her. “We do this together,” Nick started, and he reached over to touch her face at that, brushing his thumb against her cheek. “All of it.”

Sabrina swallowed, a thousand different thoughts running through her head. There were so many ways this could play out and if she could save him then… wasn’t that what she needed to do? Her own fate be damned.

“Sabrina.” His voice was desperate as he leaned his forehead against hers. “We do this together. We get through this together. Then we have centuries upon centuries to live together.” He pulled back slightly, enough so that they could look at one another. “Please don’t make me live in this world without you.”

Because Nick knew he wouldn’t survive that. After everything else he had lost and been through, losing her would be what broke him beyond repair. How was he supposed to pick up the pieces if she was gone? What would be the point of enduring Hell, of forcing himself to deal with everything that went along with being inhabited by the Dark Lord if she was gone? 

“Nick…” She closed her eyes at his words, tears sliding down her cheeks, her heart breaking at the last part. “I won’t.” She couldn’t be the one to break him like that. They would make it through this together, there was no other option. “I won’t leave you here alone.”

His kiss was full of desperation when he captured her lips with his own. One grip still tightly wound around the spear, his other hand kept cupping her cheek, needing the contact as he tried to put every promise of the future they would have together into the press of his lips. There was so much for them to do and experience apart as well as together, so much life to live and learn and love through, and they wouldn’t be denied that.

“I love you,” Sabrina murmured as they broke apart, her hand curled in his shirt, barely any space between the two of them.

“With everything I have,” Nick replied, kissing her forehead before finally taking a step back. He took her hand then, their fingers interlocking, and the power between them growing, spreading out along the forest floor before them as they continued walking, ready to take on the Devil.

* * *

There was no escaping the fear that ran through the three of them. Their family and friends were asleep on the ground with archangels hovering over them, intent on getting nearer. The hellhounds kept them temporarily at bay, but Theo had a feeling that was more to do with the angels assessing the situation than actually being scared of the beasts. 

They had faced down the gates of Hell before and come out unscathed. They could face down Heaven as well. “I remember,” Harvey started, his knuckles turning white with how hard he was clinging to the sword. “Nick said we could go blind if we saw an angel in their true form.”

“So we need to do this with our eyes closed?” Because that sounded like an insane idea to Theo. 

“Okay. We need a plan,” Roz started, taking a deep breath to try and center herself. She held out her hands toward the two of them. “Hands.” Maybe if she touched them both she could get some idea of what was to come.

It was the familiar rush of a vision as soon as she connected with them and Roz gripped their hands tightly to steady herself. She saw how all of it could play out depending on what they did. Working together was the key. They needed to separate the archangels and attack one at a time because going against all at once would mean certain doom.

Roz opened her eyes, but it took a second for them to revert back to normal from the white they had become. She turned her attention first to Theo. “You need to call on the ghosts.” He nodded as he let go of her hand, moving to the side to try and do that. Roz took one of the scarves hung up near the door and held it up. “And Harvey, you’re going to do this without your eyes.”

“What?” His eyes widened at that idea. How was he supposed to utilize a flaming sword without his sight? 

“I’ll be them,” she assured as she reached over to touch his arm. Her touch calmed him a little. He trusted Roz. If she said that was what was supposed to happen then he could do it. Once he nodded she looped the scarf around his head, making sure it cut off his sight as she secured it in place.

“So what are we doing?” Theo asked as he watched witches and warlocks begin to appear on the Spellman property, filling up nearly every space between them and the archangels. 

“We go at them one at a time.” Roz closed her eyes, letting the scenes play out once again. “The ghosts attack, we’ll sneak in, Harvey will kill an angel, and then we move on to the next.” 

“Just like that?” It sounded simple enough to Theo.

“Just like that,” Roz murmured, but she knew it would be anything but simple as she heard the whispers start, seeping into their ears and trying to fill them with doubt. Gabriel would be causing that and Raphael would spread fear to try and stop them from their mission. Michael had another sword but it was Azazel that worried her the most, the angel of death.

She held out her hand to Theo while gripping tightly to Harvey’s. “We just need to stick together.” Because they were strong enough to do this if they did that. It was on their own when everything would fall apart.

* * *

Lucifer stood before the altar used throughout the last few centuries by the Coven of Night for signing his book. It was here that he had seen his daughter for the first time, watched Edward Spellman sign her name and soul away to him, and sixteen years later watched her do the same thing, gaining the first bit of her power. It was here that she had blown Gabriel’s horn and it was here where she had first betrayed him.

Guided by Lilith’s hand. 

Where else would the Spellman sisters have gotten those particular daggers or Sabrina the horseshoe that she had used to temporarily bind him in place? 

It shouldn’t have surprised Lucifer that Lilith had attempted to steer the girl from her path. She had always been a jealous creature, believing herself greater than the place he’d allowed her to take, always wanting more. He supposed he had egged that on with all of those empty promises throughout the years, but really now, had he not provided her a far better life than the one she would have lived if she’d stayed on Earth, trying to scrounge out an existence under the False God’s constant gaze?

The light greeted him before the two stepped forward together through the forest, causing him to draw in a breath at the picture of regality that they represented together. If they hadn’t been there to kill him and usurp the reign he had so carefully crafted he might have been impressed. After all, he had been the one to put Nicholas in his daughter’s path.

Of course the boy wasn’t supposed to have fallen in love and she certainly wasn’t supposed to have reciprocated that feeling.

He noted the spear and scythe in their grasps, the damn halos of hellfire that hung above their heads, and the wings that seemed to form in lightform behind his child. Such power, it was breathtaking. If only it were being utilized as he’d planned for it to be.

No matter. 

The boy would die first and then he would make Sabrina watch her mortal friends and every one of her witch family perish as well. After she was broken he would mold her to use that power to his benefit, just as she was created to.

“I suppose Lilith didn’t tell you everything, hmm?” Lucifer looked over at the two of them, hands clasped behind his back. Neither of them answered, which was hardly any fun. “If you kill me then you die as well, daughter.”

That caused a bit of a falter in their steps and he knew he’d struck a nerve as he watched them tighten their grip on each other’s hands. 

Sabrina raised her chin though, eyes narrowing as she gazed at him. “I don’t believe you.”

“No?” His smile was anything but nice, reminding Sabrina of a viper waiting to attack. “Now, Sabrina, let’s not lie to each other. After all, we are family.” Nick held her hand tightly, keeping her from lashing out at that. The Dark Lord was deliberately prodding at her and she needed to not react to it. That was obviously what he wanted. 

Lucifer took a step forward, watching the two of them closely. “Do you not remember what happened when you destroyed that tiny sliver of me? No more than a hair. The pain was excruciating.”

“I don’t care if it rids the world of you,” she snapped. But it was a lie. Had she not just promised Nick that she wouldn’t leave him alone?

“Maybe you don’t, but what about you, Nicholas?” Lucifer eyed the other boy. He was well aware of how deep the boy’s love went for his daughter. It had been more than enough to keep him trapped inside his annoying vessel, enough that the boy hadn’t broken as easily as he had expected, and he was perfectly happy exploiting that love for his benefit now. “Are you willing to sacrifice Sabrina so that the world is rid of me.”

Nick remembered the words his mother had written and he paled, heartbeat seeming to stop in his chest. 

_You must not hesitate or all will be lost_.

It wasn’t allowed to mean sacrificing Sabrina so that the world would live on. 

It couldn’t mean that.

* * *

Roz pressed her back to Harvey and Theo’s, ensuring the three of them were still joined as they moved with the group of ghost witches that surrounded them. Magic was being cast all around them, fear trickling into their ears, whispers meant to break them, but the amulets that Ambrose had given them glowed, pushing the whispers away as quickly as they came, muffling the sound, not allowing it to permeate into their soul.

Raphael was the first angel the witches guided them to and Roz clutched at Theo’s hand, alerting him to the fact that he needed to shut his eyes then. Her own were turning white, her cunning beginning to work, and she watched as the events played out a second before they were meant to happen.

“Right, Harvey,” she ordered, and felt him lunge with the sword in the direction she’d directed. “Up, left!” 

He swung, unable to see with the blindfold, trusting in Roz’s visions to lead him. The sword met flesh, slicing into the angel that had turned to attack the three of them. He heard the angel’s screams shattering into the wind, like a window being smashed, the pieces of glass breaking into the air, but they disappeared into nothingness. He felt the heat of flames, but couldn’t figure out exactly what was happening, Roz taking hold of his hand again as the witches started to whisper around them.

“ _This way, this way._ ”

Theo looked over at Roz whose sight was turning back to normal. She offered up a smile, squeezing his hand as they followed the crowd of witches around them, keeping the angels back until they were meant to be within attacking distance. 

One angel down. Three more to go. 

They could do this.

* * *

“Our existence is tied together, Sabrina,” Lucifer continued, his words igniting every fear that Nick and Sabrina had tried to bury deep. “My death will be yours and then Nicholas, what was the point of all your sacrifices if she dies?” 

Nick clutched tightly to Sabrina’s hand, trying to block the Dark Lord’s words. They had to be a lie. “Bend the knee, daughter. Join me and I’ll let you keep your...pet.”

There was a tsking sound followed by a slow clap and all three turned toward it, finding Lilith leaning against a tree. “Always such a dramatic twisting of events, making sure it somehow suits you in the end.” She raised her hand, clenching her fist and Lucifer contorted forward slightly, just as he did before Nick had bound him into him all of those weeks back. She focused her attention on the other two. “He is the king of lies, children. I wouldn’t believe anything he says.”

“Lilith,” Lucifer greeted through gritted teeth, struggling against her magic. It would only be a few more seconds before he was free. “You’re only delaying the inevitable and your torture will be exquisite, my dear.”

Lilith sneered, clenching her fist tighter and making him twist some more. “I suggest you hurry, Sabrina and Mr. Scratch. I can only hold him still for so long.”

Sabrina moved to step forward but Nick wouldn’t budge from the spot. He couldn’t sacrifice her, he couldn’t do this without her. “Nick?” She shifted to stand in front of him, letting go of his hand so she could touch his cheek. “He’s wrong. We weren’t connected like we are now back then. We didn’t have this between us. I’m not going to die. I’m not going to leave you. I promised, remember?”

And she wasn’t going to break it. 

He leaned his forehead against hers as he took a shaky breath before nodding. They held hands again as they stepped toward Lucifer, their light growing and expanding out toward him. He cringed as it began to spread across him, every fiber of his being feeling as though it was bursting into flames. That should have been soothing, fire was his to control and manipulate, but this was different, this was torturous, tearing him apart. 

“I am your father--” he bit out, glaring at Sabrina as he wrestled against Lilith’s control, finally breaking free from it.

He was stopped by the light from moving any further though, his body seeming to disintegrate as it encompassed him. “You are nothing to me,” Sabrina spat out. “To either of us. Nothing but a monster.” 

“I created you,” Lucifer roared, screaming against the light as he worked to push forward to attack her. 

Nick held tightly to her hand as he murmured a binding spell while Sabrina concentrated, working to rid the world of Lucifer just as she’d managed to do to the sliver he’d left behind in Roz. Pain reverberated through her and she stumbled, scythe dropping to the ground as she doubled over, crying out at how visceral it was. She felt like she was being torn in two, ripped apart from existence.

“Keep going,” she bit out, needing Nick to keep up his bit. 

He was kneeling beside her though, the worry etched into his features as he dropped the spear, pulling her close. “Please, Nick,” she pleaded. He had to keep going. If he didn’t everyone else that they knew was going to die, he’d die. “I’m okay.”

“Like fuck you are, Sabrina.” He cupped her cheeks between his hands, brushing her hair back after a moment. Sweat beaded her forehead from how much strain everything was causing her. 

“I am.” She struggled to her feet, holding onto Nick to steady herself. “Together. Trust me.”

“I do.” With all of his heart. “Okay.”

Sabrina kissed him, hand curling into his shirt as she held up her other hand, calling forth the scythe to return to it as Lucifer lunged. Nick did the same, catching the spear in his hand. “Lanuae magicae,” he murmured, teleporting the two of them behind Lucifer so they could stab him with both objects through the wounds on his back. 

The Dark Lord fell forward, shattering into pieces of light as he hit the ground. Those pieces scattered into the wind, the spear and scythe hitting the grass below at the same time that Sabrina collapsed, her eyes rolling backward as her body convulsed. Nick caught her, clutching her desperately to him. Her skin was beginning to crack, light seeping out of it, and Nick tried to stop that, to get their powers to blend together again and heal her.

Lilith stood on the sidelines. It would be so easy to walk away then and there. Lucifer was gone. Sabrina would follow in a matter of minutes if she let things be. And wouldn’t that be the perfect fate for his legacy? The one he had continuously denied her. A nice little screw you to the universe at large.

She turned, ready to leave Nick to his desperate pleading for the girl to wake up, to be okay, but the rare feeling of guilt tugged at her. For all of the girl’s faults, Sabrina had tried to help her out on more than one occasion, had offered her protection, and had been willing to give her the throne before Hell had demanded it of the girl. Lilith smack her lips, and turned back with an annoyed sigh. 

“We need to get her to Hell.” It would rejuvenate her, stop the unwinding process that was threatening to happen, and no doubt unlock whatever potential the young Mr. Scratch now had considering their little glow show and his yielding the spear.

Nick nodded as he looked up Lilith, holding Sabrina tightly against his chest. He would do anything to make sure she was okay, even going back to the dimension he never wanted to step foot in again. 

They didn’t move though as Lilith watched him carefully, wondering if she could sear in enough doubt and fear now to at least make it that part of the prophecy was left unfulfilled. "If you do go with her there, you will be bound to it forever, Mr. Scratch. Hell will recognize you for what you are now and we both know it won't let you go."

Nick didn’t believe her. He’d been there before and Hell had done nothing for him. "Then why didn't it do that before?" 

"Possibly because you had the Dark Lord in you and it couldn’t distinguish one from the other.” It was a possibility but even Lilith doubted that was the cause. “Most likely because it didn't know of Sabrina yet."

Nick swallowed at that. It made sense with everything he had experienced and felt when Lucifer was inside of him, that awakening of the realm when Sabrina had entered and the former Dark Lord’s thrill over her having done so. She had needed to be in it for the place to know about her. 

Lilith held out a hand. “I can take her, ensure she’s healed and bring her back to you.” And Hell would never need to know that Nicholas Scratch existed. 

Nick glared at her, clutching Sabrina even tighter. “If you think for a second that I’m letting you take Sabrina to Hell without me you’ve lost your mind.” He knew exactly what Lilith was capable of doing to any vulnerable ruler of Hell if left on her own. 

She sneered at that, considered leaving him to figure out how to get to Hell on his own, but that would only leave her with one more enemy hunting her down through the ages and she was tired of that particular game. “Very well then.” 

Hellfire swirled around them, teleporting the three into the throne room of Pandemonium. 

“What else?” Nick asked, looking at Lilith. Sabrina had stopped shaking, but she was still too pale for his liking, her breathing shallow.

Lilith motioned toward the floor. “Set her down so it can feel her presence better.”

Nick did as directed, laying Sabrina onto the tiled floor, clutching tightly to one of her hands. _Please_ , he pleaded. Once upon a time he had believed in this place, seen it as their unholiest dwelling, as the place to strive for. That had all been so easily dashed, but he would give anything as long as she lived. _Please. I’ll do anything._

_Anything?_ Hell echoed in his head and Nick could feel the tendrils of it around him, wanting access, for him to give himself over to it, to let it lay claim to him just as it had done to Sabrina.

_Anything._

Her eyes flew open as soon as he thought the word, gasping in air as Hell reached out and flowed through her, working to fix the damage that destroying Lucifer had done. She glowed, blue and green, the color of the fire that lit the torches along the walls, the cracks smoothing back over, leaving behind only her pale skin.

He leaned forward, kissing her forehead even as he gripped her hand a little tighter, needing to hold on. The glow around her shifted, intermingling with his own, bathing them both within it. Nick groaned as he felt power rush into him, similar to what he’d always gotten from Sabrina, but more poignant, connected still and yet so much more. Hell spoke to him, whispering in that way she’d described to him, becoming part of him. 

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but that was something to dwell on at another time. She was alive. 

“Nick?” Sabrina blinked, trying to make sense of what was happening. She’d felt like she was being torn apart, about to be scattered to the wind just as the Dark Lord had been, her connection to Nick the only thing managing to keep her whole. And then she was healed, rejuvenated even. 

She focused on his face, watching various emotions play out as he brushed her cheek, breathing a sigh of relief at hearing her voice. “Hey,” she started, eyes widening in horror as she realized that they were in Hell. “You shouldn't be here.”

Not this place. Not with the memories it held for him. She never wanted him to need to go there again.

“It's fine, Sabrina. We needed to get you here to heal you.” He tucked her hair behind her ear as she pushed herself to sit upright. 

“Are you…” She searched his face, trying to figure out what exactly had changed with him, because something had. 

“We need to check on the others,” he murmured, not wanting to discuss any of it, not with Lilith around.

He helped Sabrina up as she nodded, her heartbeat speeding up as she remembered what the others were all facing. Peace swept through her though and she trusted it, squeezing his hand tightly. They were all okay, she was certain of it. 

They had to be. 

Otherwise she was doing whatever it took to bring each and every single one of them back. Heaven and Hell be damned.

“You should be able to banish any demons still up there back to Hell, Sabrina. Nicholas.” Lilith supposed she needed to address them both now. It was disgusting. “I’ll happily dole out their punishments while you deal with matters up there.”

Nick didn’t answer, regarding her coldly, no doubt still holding a grudge over that little bit of torture that she had doled out on him. But Sabrina nodded. “Thank you.”

They teleported back to Earth, Hell shaking at their departure and Lilith sighed, leaning against the throne. 

It was going to be a long millenia.

* * *

They were down to two more angels--the one with his own sword and the one with a scythe. “Michael and Azazel,” Roz muttered, trying to remember anything she might have learned about them from all those summer bible camps she’d been to. “Michael is the messenger of God. Azazel is the angel of death.”

“Shouldn’t he be on Sabrina’s side then?” Theo muttered, rubbing at the back of his neck. They were alive, but bruised. Too many of the witches had been destroyed and he worried about that, wondering what happened to them if an angel killed them as a ghost. Did they just cease to exist?

“Or you’d think he’d at least be impartial,” Harvey muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. 

Michael turned his attention toward them and Roz readied for another vision, reaching over to take Theo’s hand, but the angel’s attention diverted, Azazel’s following suit. She followed their line of sight, gasping as she spotted Nick and Sabrina appearing in front of the mortuary. They glowed, wings of light flowing from Sabrina’s back and hellfire crowns above both of their heads. 

“Woah,” Theo murmured, grasping hold of her hand as Roz took hold of Harvey’s. 

Michael stepped forward, looking ready to wage war, but Azazel touched his shoulder, shaking his head. “It is done.” 

They vanished in a burst of light, knocking the trio to the ground, the ghosts scattering into the wind. Not as they had done when the angels destroyed them though. Hopefully they were okay.

“Sabrina?” Theo called out, scrambling to get up and run toward the two of them. Roz helped Harvey remove the blindfold before the two of them headed over as well, the three of them enveloping her in a group hug. Nick stepped back, wanting to give them space for their reunion, but Theo tugged him over, pulling him into the hug as well. 

“You guys are okay,” Sabrina breathed out, hugging tightly to them. She hoped the others had fared the same. “We have to get to the coven, but I needed…” She needed to check on them first, worried for their safety against four archangels. 

“We’re good, Brina. Go, both of you.” Roz squeezed her tightly one more time before they disentangled from one another. “

“We’re just going to raid the cookie jar now,” Theo added. “I think we’ve all earned an unlimited amount of your aunt’s cookies.”

Harvey rubbed at the back of his neck as Sabrina and Nick teleported away, looking between his two friends. “So. We all noticed that she had wings, right?” 

“I mean, Satan was a fallen angel. So I guess that makes her part angel,” Roz pointed out as they started toward the house. 

“Just try not to think too hardly about it.” Theo knocked his shoulder into his friend’s. “She’s Sabrina. That’s all that matters.”

* * *

Ambrose wiped a hand across his mouth, spitting out blood as he started the spell again, Zelda at his side. It was chaos around the academy, for every single demon they managed to bind and render useless two more seemed to pop up. The power of three that the Weird Sisters were able to utilize helped even the odds some, but they were barely hanging on, too many of the coven having already been pulled back into the room Hilda had set up to try and heal the injured. 

“They’re getting weaker,” Zelda stated as they brought down another.

Ambrose wasn’t so sure about that, worried a bit that his aunt was the optimistic one in the situation. The world truly had gone mad. Rats headed at them, swarming the ground, birds swooping from the sky as the sound of flies flying about began to ring in his ears. The Plague Kings. He couldn’t see them through the rain and muck, but he knew they were out there.

He readied to deal with them, swatting at the flies who were attempting to surround Zelda and him, but a burst of light dissolved all of the tiny beasts, revealing Sabrina and Nick in its wake. Zelda grasped hold of his hand, holding on tightly as they watched the two turn toward the demons. They all seemed to freeze and finally it wasn’t the witches fear that hung in the air. 

The demons dropped to their knees, bending their heads, only the Plague Kings remaining standing. Sabrina looked back at them, surveying the crowd of witches until she spotted Ambrose and Zelda. Zelda simply nodded and Sabrina turned back toward the three kings.

Asmodeus opened his mouth to speak but Sabrina raised a hand, his mouth disappearing at the motion. “You chose wrong.” 

She closed her hand tightly into a fist and the others watched as every demon around them, including the kings, dissolved into hellfire, wiped cleanly from existence. 

Ambrose didn’t wait, running out to the two of them and pulling Sabrina into a tight hug. “You’re okay,” he murmured into her hair. 

“Are all of you?” she asked as she pulled back slightly, glancing back toward the others, watching as her aunt made their way over.

“A bit battered and bruised,” Ambrose replied, reaching over to check on Nick as well. He looked like he was alright, but there was something off with the warlock, but Ambrose couldn’t quite place it. “Melvin might lose an eye. And a few others have some broken bones and a near possession, but no one is dead.”

“And Dr. Cee?” Sabrina asked as she released Ambrose, moving over to let Zelda smooth back her hair.

“Stable, last I heard,” Zelda assured her before glancing back at the academy. Parts of it were ruins now, the exterior left wing crumbling to the ground. “This is going to take some time to clean up.”

“Good thing you like a challenge.” Ambrose looped an arm over his aunt’s shoulders before sliding away to check on Prudence and her sisters. 

Zelda touched Sabrina’s cheek one last time before stepping forward. “I better check on the rest of the students.”

Sabrina watched her go before turning back to Nick. He hadn’t moved, still staring at the place that the demons had been. His shoulders were tense, his hands locked into fists at his sides and she reached over, touching his arm. “Nick?”

He looked over at her, his eyes blood red, and she didn’t need to ask what was wrong, having felt similarly after Hell had claimed her. Her breath hitched, shoulders sagging as the enormity of all that had happened hit her. Hell had laid claim to him. The crowns of Hellfire, the symbology in the paintings, the weight that had seemed to be on his shoulders since she’d woken. 

_No._

“No no no no no. I’m so sor--” Her apology caught in her throat, not thinking that the words were enough.

The red left his eyes, reverting back to normal as he reached over, pulling her into a tight hug. Rage had bubbled inside of him, wanting him to lash out, to cause pain to others, but her voice tempered that, having her in his arms helped cool the heat. “I know,” he murmured against her hair.

“I love you,” Nick told her, never wanting to let go. 

“I love you too.” But the words felt meaningless to her considering what had happened. He had gone to Hell because of her, he was tied to it because of her and there was no breaking that bond. She’d doomed him to the same fate.

Nick cupped her cheeks in his hand, thumbs wiping at her tears. He didn’t need to be a mind reader to have an idea what she was probably thinking. They would figure this out. 

Hell wasn’t allowed to come between them. Neither of them would allow it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed. I hate writing battles but I hope it made sense. And now to deal with the consequences of those battles in the next chapter.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

_“You could set the world on fire  
and I would still be on your side”  
_

Sabrina drew in a deep breath, absently looking down at the cups on the tray. It had only been a few hours since everything had ended, only a bit since her world had been upended all over again. There had been victories, her friends and family had managed to get out of the battle unscathed for the most part, but Nick...he would never be the same again. Neither of them would.

She dug her nails into her palm as she closed her eyes, willing back the tears that were threatening to spill again. She just needed to make it through the next hour or so, talk with her friends and aunts, keep up appearances for a little longer and then she could let all of her emotion out in the safety of her bedroom. Salem wrapped around between her legs and she picked him up, cuddling her familiar close, letting his soft purr ease how rapidly her heartbeat had been going again. 

The kettle whistled, signalling that it was ready and Sabrina set Salem back down before turning off the stove. She entered the living room with the tray of teas and biscuits a few minutes later, moving around to let everyone take what they wanted before setting it down on the table. 

Roz laid on the couch, her head propped up against Harvey’s thigh, Theo tucked up against the couch with pillows splayed out next to him, while Nick was sitting on one of the chairs, looking about as out of place as she was currently feeling. She smiled at her friends, picking up a few biscuits before taking the seat next to him. 

Ambrose appeared seconds later, stretching his hands above his head. “The townspeople are all in their homes. They’ll wake up none the wiser to what happened and what they thought they needed to do.” He snagged a cup of hot water and a tea bag before finding a seat on the floor as well. 

“What about the buildings?” Theo asked, dunking the tea bag in and out of the water, wondering if that would help it absorb the flavor faster.

“Fires are out but they will need to deal with the damage on their own,” Ambrose replied, arching a brow at the other boy’s method. “We have our hands full with here and the Academy.”

“What’s going to happen when they wake up?” Roz asked as she rolled a cookie between her fingers. “What will they think happened?” What was she going to walk into when she finally went home?

“They’ll think a gas leak caused the hallucinations and damage.” Ambrose reached forward snagging himself a cookie. 

“A gas leak?” Harvey frowned, trying to figure out how that would work.

Ambrose shrugged. “It seemed the best excuse for them falling asleep in random places in their houses.”

“But they’ll have no memory of any of it?” Roz persisted, needing to know. 

“None.” Ambrose shrugged. Zelda, the Weird Sisters and he had made sure of it. “And we undid the earworm the Dark Lord had put into your dad’s ear, Roz. He’ll be preaching a little less about fire and brimstone now.”

She let out a sigh of relief, finally taking a bite of the cookie. “Good. There’s only so many times you can listen to the same sermon.”

“I’m supposed to tell all of you to get your rest,” Ambrose continued, glancing over toward his cousin. He didn’t like the far away look in either her or Nick’s eyes. Something had happened that they weren’t sharing. He knew he probably wouldn’t be able to get any answers from them yet, but he’d try again tomorrow. Secrets never ended well when Sabrina was involved. 

She caught sight of him looking at her and offered up a smile, but he noticed the way it fell flat, not quite reaching her eyes. “I need to get back to the Academy. But really, sleep. We’re going to need you tomorrow for clean up here and at the Academy.” Ambrose snagged a few more cookies before teleporting away with his spoils. 

Silence filled the room, exhaustion slowly creeping into all of them, the adrenaline that had been coursing through them for most of the day finally dissipating. No one moved to head up to bed though, everyone seeming to be rooted to their spots. Sabrina reached over, touching Nick’s arm, needing that connection to him. He placed his other hand on top of hers and she relaxed a little as she took in her friends. 

They were alive. 

It was okay. Almost.

“So he’s dead,” Theo eventually murmured. 

“No more Satan,” Roz added. It was a weird thought, one that was difficult to wrap her head around. 

“Yep.” It was all Sabrina could think of to reply with.

Conversation ceased again, shadows dancing in the moonlight that shone into the room, playing with the cracks in the walls from the damage the angels had caused. Roz slowly sat up, her focus on Sabrina. “What does that mean for you?”

It wasn’t something Sabrina wanted to think about. Not then. Not ever, if she was being honest with herself. “What do you mean?” 

Roz pressed her lips together, watching her friend closely. She knew Sabrina knew what she was asking. “You’re Queen of Hell, Sabrina.” 

Theo sat up, hugging his knees to him as he looked between all of them. “How is that going to work?” 

Sabrina pulled away from Nick then, hugging herself. “I don’t know.” 

Theo frowned. “I guess the whole not attending high school was a good call.”

“Yeah, that would be a killer commute,” Harvey murmured and Sabrina laughed at that, Theo and Roz following suit. It felt good to laugh in spite of everything.

Nick didn’t though, rising from his chair and leaving the room. 

“It was a joke…” Harvey rubbed the back of his neck, looking apologetic. 

Sabrina rose, listening to Nick’s footsteps as he ascended the stairs toward her room. “It’s okay.”

“Is he okay?” Theo asked, nodding toward where Nick had gone.

No Nick was definitely not okay. She nearly told them all what had happened, how she’d been dying, that Nick had needed to sacrifice himself all over again to keep her safe, but the words wouldn’t come out. 

“Go, Brina,” Roz told her, motioning toward the doorway. “We’re okay. We’re going to head up to bed after we’re done with this tea. Go.”

“Thanks, guys.” Sabrina offered up another small smile before leaving the room.

“Definitely not okay,” Theo sighed, placing his half eaten cookie back on the tray. He didn’t really have the taste for it any longer. 

Roz tilted her head, listening for the sound of Sabrina’s bedroom door opening and closing again before looking back at the other two. “They will be.”

With enough time, they all would be.

* * *

The urge to pummel Harvey Kinkle had been nearly too great to push down, the rage that had been steadily growing since being in Hell nearly boiling over to a breaking point at the other boy’s joke. Nick had nearly left the house altogether, considered going into the woods and unleashing the power that was in him out there, but he’d managed to head up to Sabrina’s bedroom instead. He was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself when she entered the room, closing the door behind her. 

Her being in the room, several feet away, helped ease his anger, her presence tempering the need to punish and unleash the suffering that he could dole out. Nick sat down on the bed, his head in hands as he tried to breathe through it. He’d felt this kind of emotion before, back when Lucifer was inside of him, frustrated at his inability to break free. But this wasn’t Lucifer’s anger any longer. It was all him, stronger than anything he’d felt on his own with too much power behind it. 

Sabrina dropped down on her knees in front of him, touching his hands. “I'll figure out how to make it let you go. Make it so you're not bound to it forever too.” She had no idea how to do that but there had to be a way. This wasn’t fair to him. It couldn’t be allowed to stand.

The guilt he heard in her voice nearly ripped him in two. “Sabrina.” He looked up, letting her take hold of his hands.

“You never should have gone back there,” she continued as she shook her head, her eyes closing.

Nick dropped down on the floor next to her. “I wasn't letting you die.” Hell could have him as well if it meant she got to live, if it meant they both got to live.

Her lower lip trembled as their foreheads touched. “I wish there had been another way. Anything.” 

_Anything_. Just as he had promised Hell. “You’re worth it, Spellman.” Nick tilted her chin up so that they could see one another. 

“You say that now.” But would he still believe that in a hundred years when he was still bound to the place he associated with his torture, with the Dark Lord and Lilith who had brutalized him inward and out?

“I say that _always_.” He brushed at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “I meant it when I said I didn’t want to live in a world without you.”

“But--” Nick pressed a finger to her lips.

“But nothing. I knew what I was doing. I walked headfirst into doing it, Sabrina. It is not your fault and I’m going to keep reminding you of that until you get it through your very stubborn skull.” At least that seemed to get a small laugh out of her. 

“I just don’t want you to end up hating me.” Sabrina didn’t think she could handle that. Nick had become such a rock for her through the last few months, someone always at her side, always willing to walk with her through everything. Losing that forever would be devastating.

_Never_ , he thought as he kissed her, hoping that what she didn’t seem to be understanding through his words he could explain with his touch. Every promise of their future together was in that kiss, lifetimes to come spread out before them and he could never hate her in any of them. 

Lucifer and Edward Spellman were another matter entirely. But Nick believed that he could figure out how to temper this rage that wanted to burn through him. It just needed a focus. He’d found one before with Amalia after guilt over his parents’ deaths had threatened to undo him, survival, scavenging for anything to eat, to live taking up his whole existence. And then again at the academy when he’d nearly drowned in his own sadness, throwing himself headfirst into learning everything and anything that he could. He would just need to do so again in regards to Hell.

“I seem to be interrupting a lot of these moments but we need to talk.” It was Lilith’s voice. 

Nick felt his anger rising again as he broke away from Sabrina, glaring over at the other woman as Sabrina turned to face her too. His hatred for her was slightly tempered because of her help in saving Sabrina, but trust was definitely still lacking. 

“You wiped out nearly eighty percent of Hell’s aristocracy, which I wouldn’t normally have an issue with but they did run the various circles. Now we’ll need new ones put in charge of them. Something you need to decide upon. There are orders that need to be given, policies decided since those who usually set about claiming souls are all dead and we will start getting a backlog soon enough.” Lilith grimaced at that. “Nasty thing when that happens. All that festering evil and madness trapped in a human body. Never ends well for anyone around them.”

Which meant they needed to head back to Hell. Soon.

“How long until it becomes a problem?” Sabrina asked as she reached over for Nick’s hand, brushing her fingers along it, not quite connecting but needing that touch.

Lilith smacked her lips. “I’d say a week. Two would be pushing it.” 

“Then we’ll see you in a week,” Nick told her and Lilith opened her mouth to reply to that but quickly shut it. If it had just been Sabrina she would have been able to convince the girl to come down right then, but with the boy added such feats weren’t as readily possible.

“A week then. I suggest getting your affairs in order up here.” Her attention turned back to Sabrina. “You know the bargain we had before for your time on Earth will no longer work. Not with the damage that needs to be fixed.”

Lilith disappeared in a swirl of hellfire, leaving the two to lean against the bed. Neither said a word for a long moment, fingers linking as the reality of their situation dug in a little deeper. Sabrina had known one day in Hell and the rest on Earth wouldn’t last forever but she’d thought she would have longer than she had doing that.

“Maybe we can do like a week there, a week here.” The idea sounded hollow to her own ears, improbable considering everything they needed to accomplish. She looked over at Nick. “We can’t, can we?”

Nick shook his head. “Not at first, no. Not with all there is to do.”

Sabrina’s shoulders sagged as she leaned forward, threading her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t want this for us.”

“Ruling Hell wasn’t exactly on my list of goals either, but you know what has been for awhile now?” Nick tugged at her, wanting her to face him again. Sabrina shook her head. “Being with you. Getting a life with you.”

It sounded so nice. A life together. But she was frowning. “Is it a life though?”

“It is if we make it one,” Nick pointed out. “You won’t be alone there.” Because that was what he’d been worried about the most and he knew it was a worry her family had as well. Sabrina alone in Hell was a terrifying thought, something all of them had fought tooth and nail for her never to live through. But together, it could be okay. They could make it okay. “We'll help each other make better memories of it. Together.” 

Sabrina scrunched her nose, trying to see how it could be twisted in a good thing, but all she could see was how Nick’s choices had been dashed, his decisions for his life torn from him because of everything that had happened, because her fathers--both of them, Lucifer and Edward--had taken that decision from him and from her. 

“Nick, you have nightmares of that place almost nightly and we're not even there.” What would it be like for him once they were living there? Sleeping, day in and day out without any sort of reprieve. No one should have to endure that, especially not him. “Maybe I can just go and you live up here and…”

His grip on her hand tightened at that, fear taking hold at the idea of her being there alone. It wrapped around her too and she knew it wasn’t a solution. Her going to Hell on her own to try and handle everything would only cause more issues. 

“I’m not going to lie and tell you I’m not terrified, Sabrina.” He reached over, brushing her hair back as she looked at him, searching his eyes. The Dark Lord wouldn’t be in Hell and the two of them could work together to erase every trace of him from the place. Lilith was the issue, a black stain on what could be a glorious future, but he’d figure out how to deal with her later. “But I believe in _you_ and I believe in _us_.” 

Nick saw the doubt and pulled her closer. “It's not his. Not anymore.” The Dark Lord had no say in anything any longer. Not in Hell, not in their lives. And neither did Edward Spellman. “It's yours. It's mine. It's _ours_.” 

“Ours,” she echoed the last word. Maybe it could be okay then because she did want a life with Nick. Maybe Hell wasn’t where she had pictured it being but if they could make it their own, together, then that could work. They could make it work.

It wouldn’t be perfect but nothing was, if nothing else, she’d learned that.

* * *

There were certain universal truths that Zelda knew and yet perpetually worked to deny, paving a path to avoid them from ever happening. As she walked into the makeshift infirmary, watching her sister hover over a sleeping Dr. Cee, she knew that it wouldn’t be long before she was alone in the mortuary. She’d worked so hard to keep them all close, to keep her family tied to her, no more losses after Edward, but there was no escaping the paths that each of them was heading down any longer. 

Perhaps Ambrose would remain for a bit but she knew even he would need to fly from the roost soon enough. He’d been stuck in Greendale far too long for someone so young and Sabrina… She shook her head, not wanting to think about her niece just yet.

“How is he?” Zelda asked as she took a seat next to Hilda. She wanted to lash out at the love she saw her sister extole on the man, to demand that her attention refocus on family, to not leave her alone, but she bit her lip. No amount of killing and burying in the Cain pit would stop what was transpiring between Hilda and the shop owner.

“It’ll take some time for the swelling and bruising to go down but I’ve set the leg.” Hilda reached over, brushing Cee’s hair before leaning back in the chair to let him sleep. “There isn’t any internal bleeding so he’ll be alright.”

“And the students?” There didn’t seem to be any of them in the infirmary which had to be a good sign.

Hilda nodded, waving toward the empty cots. “I think we saved Melvin’s eye and the others will be fine with some rest.” 

“Good.” It was all Zelda could manage to get out.

Hilda looked over at her, used to her sister’s brief comments, but something was off with her. “What is it?” Were those...tears? She watched Zelda blink, brushing at her cheek before looking over at her. 

“We have to let her go.” It wasn’t something Zelda ever wanted to do, but she knew it needed to happen.

“What?” Hilda frowned, trying to figure out who her sister meant.

“Sabrina.” Funny how one word could make both of their hearts drop, sadness seeping into their bones.

Hilda shook her head. Obviously that didn’t need to happen. “What makes you…”

“To Hell,” Zelda continued, looking around at the damage that had been done to this room as well. The Academy was going to need her sole attention for weeks to come, to rebuild it, to bolster the group again.

“Surely we can alternate like we’d discussed,” Hilda offered up.

Zelda rose, moving toward the large crack in the wall. It was a miracle the room was still standing. “Not at first. There’s so much we need to do here with the coven and the mortuary.” She looked back at her sister. “All of those demons are dead, Hilda, and I noted who they were. Hell’s aristocracy. You know what that means for Hell, for what will need to be done. Her attention will need to be there, ensuring it doesn’t seep back into this world and end with us facing a war all over again.”

“She’s still a baby.” Hilda slunk against her chair, hand pressed to her mouth at the idea of it. “She can’t take this one alone.”

“She won’t.” Zelda had seen the growth of power in Nick and besides that she knew the boy. He wouldn't’ let Sabrina go alone, no matter what had happened to him down there. “Mr. Scratch will be there with her.” She just hoped that would be enough.

“If I could strangle our brother right now I would ,” Hilda muttered as Zelda sat back down beside her. 

“As would I.” She reached over and took her sister’s hand as silence fell between the two, no more words needing to be spoken.

Ambrose pressed back against the shadows, making sure to slip out of the room without either of them hearing him. He’d come to check on Hilda and overheard more than he would have liked. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he sunk down onto one of the steps, not quite sure where he’d ended up in the academy. There was no one else around which was what he’d wanted. 

Sabrina in Hell. 

The idea had been thrilling at one point until the reality of the situation set in. 

There would be no more late night talks with her, no Saturday sleep-ins, or hearing her prattle on and on about some ridiculous thing the mortals had done. He wouldn’t hear her running about the mortuary, blasting the crap she considered music, or talking him into another late night horror movie marathon. Would her room collect dust like Edward’s eventually had, neither of the aunts able to go into it in order to clean it after his death? Or would it become a little shrine to the girl she had been and never really could be again? 

“For someone who just helped stop the apocalypse you look far too glum,” Prudence told him as she sat down next to him on the step.

Ambrose tried to offer up a nonchalant smile but she glared at him, not buying it for a second. “Spit it out.”

It took him a moment to decide what to say before going for the simplest version. “Sabrina and Nick are going to need to stay in Hell.” 

Prudence shook her head, not trusting her own ears. “What?” Surely he was joking, but as she listened to him explain what he’d overheard she knew he wasn’t. She leaned against him, stiffening for a second when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders before relaxing into the comforting touch. “And here I thought we’d won.”

“Doesn’t feel much like it, does it?” Ambrose murmured. 

Prudence sighed. “Not even a little.”

* * *

The house had become too stifling, Lilith’s presence still lingering in the air. So when Sabrina had suggested they went for a walk, Nick had been all too eager to accept the idea. Her mortal friends were alright, the sound of their snores echoing from the room when they passed by it, Salem laying out in front of the door like a silent guard. He’d opened one eye to look at the two of them before sprawling out on his back.

They walked hand in hand through the woods, moving through the wet undergrowth. The moonlight made the water on the trees sparkle, giving the entirety of it a magical feeling. “We have a week. Maybe two,” Nick started. He didn’t trust Lilith, but he had a feeling she wasn’t exaggerating about the two of them needing to be in Hell soon. 

He could feel the pull of it, the constant edge at the back of his mind as it urged him to return. Sabrina felt it as well, had been for weeks by that point, but it was stronger than it ever had been. 

“There’s so much to do before then.” So many goodbyes that she needed to somehow say. Sabrina had no idea how to do them. They weren’t permanent but it was still such a foreign concept to her, one she hadn’t ever wanted to experience. She’d tried so hard to have both her mortal and witch life and now it seemed she would get neither. Funny how fate worked.

He squeezed her hand before letting go of it, wrapping his arm around her shoulders instead to hold her closer. She leaned against him, wrapping her own arm around his waist. “What do we want to focus on once we’re there? Lilith will have her ideas but what are _ours_ ,” Nick continued. It helped him if they had a plan, set ideas for him to focus on. “What do we want Hell to be?”

“It needs to be certain things. A place for the damned.” Because there were plenty of those down there. She’d sent one herself. Those who had committed atrocities throughout the years had earned their place in it. And yet… “And something else for those who…” Her thoughts drifted back to the father who’s soul she had collected. How many were like that?

Nick paused their steps, moving so he was standing in front of her. “I know.”

“We’ve got his journals or records or whatever from when he was creating the circles.” The Dark Lord’s. She remembered that they were in the mortuary with some of the other infernal texts. “Ambrose was really interested in them. I don’t really want to read any of them though. I’m kind of done with any version of my father’s journals.”

Nick laughed at that and she reached over, touching his cheek, smiling at his laugh. It was nice to hear. For a moment it was like nothing else had happened. It was just the two of them standing in the middle of the woods, existing with one another. No Hell, no chaos, just them. 

“Sabrina.”

Of course it couldn’t last. 

The two turned at the voice, clutching at one another’s hands again as they spotted the ghost of Edward Spellman. Sabrina gripped Nick’s hand tightly, trying to stifle the rage that burned within her at seeing him. Squashing it seemed like what she was supposed to do, but Nick brushed his thumb against the back of her hand and she looked over at him, taking his slight nod to mean that she didn’t need to do that.

“All I ever wanted was to know you and now I wish we’d never met,” Sabrina started, tears pricked at her eyes but she blinked them away, refusing to let herself cry for this man.

“Sabrina,” Edward started but she shook her head. 

“No.” He didn’t get to talk. He didn’t get to try and justify everything that he had set forth for them to do, for the path that they were now on. “Your intentions might have been good but you manipulated me just like the Dark Lord did. You manipulated both of us and I won’t forgive you for that, for everything you’ve laid on my shoulders.”

She let go of Nick’s hand as she stepped forward, jabbing her finger into her father’s chest. “I’m _sixteen_. I should be thinking about prom next year and getting a part time job, learning new spells and witch history. Not deciding which demons are going to run which circles of Hell.”

“You will do a wonderful job with it,” Edward told her and Sabrina dropped her hand. She wanted to scream at him. What he was saying was so beyond that point that all she could do was ball her hands into fists as she walked back over to Nick.

“But not because of you.” None of it was because of him. “Because of my aunties and my cousin and how they raised me. None of that is because of anything that you set in place. I’m a Spellman because of them. Not because of you.”

Nick reached over, touching her arm and welcoming her back against him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, resting his chin against her hair as he narrowed his eyes at Edward Spellman. “What part did my parents play in this?”

“What do you mean?” Edward asked, watching the two of them. Nick decided he hated the look of pride the warlock directed toward them. 

“Did they manipulate everything like you? Or did you manipulate them?” Because he’d been wondering about that. Had his parents been pawns? Or was simply one to them? 

“Your family had been the keeper of the spear for centuries, Nicholas. That was their duty.” Edward explained and relief washed over Nick. “All I did for them was ensure you had a familiar that could protect you when they would be unable to.”

And there went that relief. “Amalia.”

“Yes.” Edward nodded.

“Why did you do that?” Sabrina asked, tightening her grip on Nick.

“He needed to be protected to fulfill his part,” Edward explained. 

“Did they know?” About what his part was meant to be. 

“No.” Edward shook his head. “Though I think your mother suspected after I gave them Amalia. Werewolves are rarely ever allowed as familiars.”

Nick swallowed at that. Maybe that was why she’d written the note for him. “Did you know they were going to die?”

“Yes.” 

His answer shocked both of them. “And you didn’t try to save them?” Sabrina asked, staring at the man she had once respected and longed for. All she felt now was disgust.

He shook his head and she glared. “I think you should leave.”

She turned away from him, wrapping her arms tightly around Nick, feeling him shudder against her. There was nothing else they needed to hear from the man and Sabrina was thankful that he didn’t attempt to explain anything else, disappearing into the wind. The two of them fell to their knees, Sabrina holding Nick up as he clung desperately to her, letting out everything he’d been trying so desperately to hold in over the last few hours. 

She rubbed at his back, murmuring to him words of comfort at first and then just held him, letting him sob into her neck as he held onto her as though she was his lifeline. Sabrina wasn’t entirely sure how long they sat like that, but eventually Nick’s breathing evened out though his grip on her didn’t lessen any. She used the sleeves of her shirt to wipe at his cheeks, brushing away the tears that were still there. 

Nick pulled her down onto the grass, kissing her hard, wanting to get lost in touching her and by the way she reciprocated the kiss even as she worked at the buttons of her shirt, he knew it was all she wanted as well.There were no words to be spoken then, nothing that could take away the pain that had been unleashed upon the two of them, but it helped having each other. 

Tomorrow they would deal with everything Edward Spellman had revealed, with the path they were forever heading down on. Tonight, all he wanted to do was hold Sabrina and forget the rest for a few hours. 

The world owed them that much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy everyone enjoyed the battle of the last chapter and I am so sorry for how depressing this chapter is. The next one is much happier, I swear. The next chapter is also the last for this story and maybe an epilogue. I'm still debating that piece. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	23. 23

_"With each new dawn it’s not the same world as the day before.  
And you’re not the same person you were, either."  
_

Rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, falling down on a sleeping Sabrina. She shifted in her bed, reaching out for Nick, to be able to burrow into his side and ignore the need to wake, but her hand met nothing but the sheet. She blearily blinked her eyes, trying to focus them as she looked over at what had become his spot and found Salem curled up instead, a piece of paper underneath her familiar.

She tried to gently remove it from beneath him, but Salem refused to budge, doubling down on his sunlit nap and turning further onto the paper. “You know you’re not actually a cat,” she chided as she finally maneuvered it out from under him, giving his head a brief pat before she read the note. 

It appeared he had already headed to the academy, wanting to let her sleep in for a bit longer, while he researched. Sabrina closed her eyes again, dropping her arm across them to better shield from the sun, the paper laying on her chest. She could hear the sounds of someone else in the house, moving around in the kitchen below, but the chaos that had been the mortuary over the last few weeks was gone, replaced by something close to normalcy. 

A normalcy that she knew would be coming to an end soon enough. 

It had been a week since they had stopped the Apocalypse a second time, a week since Nicholas had been irrevocably tied to Hell as well, and she could feel Hell below, losing its patience with the two of them. She pushed any thought of it from her mind as she finally rose, knowing there was little chance of her getting anymore sleep. Glancing at Salem one more time, she headed off toward the bathroom to start getting ready. 

She really envied her familiar in that moment. Sabrina doubted he was blissfully oblivious to his surroundings but he sure seemed like it and that was good enough for her.

“Good morning, darling,” Hilda greeted her an hour later when she headed into the kitchen. 

Cee was seated at the table as well, his face seemed to be tinted green from the healing bruises, but the swelling had gone down considerably and it was better than the deep purples and blacks that it had been. It was still odd to see him out of his usual work getup, though his presence around the Spellman kitchen was becoming a staple. Not even Zelda’s glares over her newspaper seemed to be scaring him away.

“Morning, Sabrina,” he greeted before taking another sip of the coffee that Hilda passed to him.

“Hi, Auntie. Dr. Cee. How are you feeling?” Sabrina pressed a kiss to her aunt’s cheek, accepting the cup of coffee from her, before taking a seat.

He nodded, managing a smile that finally looked like it didn’t hurt to do. “Right as rain.”

Sabrina grinned back as she lifted the cup, breathing in the aroma of the coffee to help her wake up a little more. “I’m sure my aunt's cooking has been helping with the healing process.”

“A home cooked meal does do wonders,” he agreed. 

Hilda nodded toward the griddle. “Pancakes will be ready in a minute. I heard you moving around and knew you’d be hungry.”

“Thanks. Just one or two. I’m meeting up with Roz, Theo and Harvey in a little bit.” And she needed to keep room for the ice cream they would be getting.

“Good. It’s been awhile since they were over.” Hilda wiped her hands on her apron before moving to flip the pancakes.

Sabrina rolled her eyes before shaking her head. “Like two days, Auntie.” 

“That’s still awhile.” Hilda pointed the spatula at her. Especially with how often they had been around.

“With the mines opening back up and Theo’s animals on the mend, they’ve been busy.” Things were slowly returning to normal in Greendale and that was a good thing. No one seemed to be any wiser to what had happened, all of the townspeople believing there had been some sort of gas leak that had caused their black out and the damage to downtown. “And Roz has been helping with errands for others who are doing the repairs around town. Plus they have school.”

“I hope they know they don’t need to be strangers,” her aunt continued, focusing on the pancakes to ensure they didn’t burn.

Sabrina exchanged a look with Dr. Cee, the two of them picking up their cups of coffee to sip as Hilda looked back at them. “I’m sure they won’t, Aunt Hilda.” 

They just needed to figure out what their new normal was as well. All of them did. 

Sabrina leaned back in her chair, watching her aunt and Dr. Cee’s conversation unfold as her aunt stacked the pancakes on a plate for her. At least it seemed like her aunt’s new normal was going to be a good one, full of love. Hopefully it could be like that for everyone.

* * *

Ambrose plopped down in the chair across from Nick, picking up one of the texts that the other warlock had spread out on the table. All of them were related to Hell in some way, which wasn’t at all surprising. He flipped through the book, barely looking at the pages, before letting it close, leaning forward instead. “I’ve been trying to put my finger on what it is that’s changed.”

“Hello, Ambrose.” Nick didn’t bother to look up, busy making mental notes in regards to the classes of demons. 

“Yes yes, greetings are a bit mundane when I run into you every so often in the middle of the night coming out of my cousin’s bedroom. Or should I say your bedroom together?” Ambrose mused, leaning back in his chair then. “Though. I think we both know that won’t be the case for much longer.”

Nick did look up at that, confusion settling in as he regarded the other warlock. Did Sabrina not want him there anymore? Had she told her cousin that? Panic started to rise within him, not sure what he would do if that was the case. Or did Ambrose know what they were planning?

“I meant considering both of your times here are coming to an end,” Ambrose explained, and the panic receded, replaced by the ever pressing detachment that Nick was carefully crafting around himself at the idea.

“Oh.” That was all he could manage to get out, focus back on the books. 

“I know you realize that and I also know that she’s going to deny the Heaven out of where she needs to be until some sort of disaster forces her to return there,” Ambrose continued, shaking his head. He loved his cousin, he truly did, but she could be a stubborn idiot at times.

Nick shrugged. He was well aware that there time on Earth was running out. Hell’s call was getting louder, harder to deny with every day, and only truly able to be drowned out when he was in bed with Sabrina, their focus on one another. “I’m not exactly rushing to get back there either.” Even if he was painstakingly planning everything that needed to be done for when they did leave. 

“No. Which is why I’m wondering how exactly you have become tied to Hell in the same way as Sabrina.” Ambrose tapped the table. Because he could sense the rise in Nick’s power, how it flowed the same as his cousin’s. “The prophecy suggested that such a thing would happen, but the details are rather scarce.”

“She didn’t want to worry any of you,” Nick looked up, mentally bookmarking the page he was on as he closed the book. It was obvious Ambrose wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. 

Ambrose sighed. Typical Sabrina. “She never does and yet here we are, worrying.” 

“She was dying.” Nick closed his eyes, remembering how pale she had been, the cracks in her skin, light seeping out of her. She had been so cold, looked so helpless, far from the fierce young woman he knew her to be. He’d thought seeing her with arrows sticking out of her chest would be the image seared into his brain to torment him, but her laying in his arms, convulsing had replaced that. 

Ambrose swallowed hard at that news. “Dying?” 

It had been his greatest fear for what might happen. They’d known it was a possibility. He’d heard from the Aunties about what Lilith had told them in regards to the sliver Sabrina had destroyed. Knowing it had nearly happened, that they had nearly lost his baby cousin was like a knife to the gut. He clutched at the arms of the chair, trying to ground himself. 

“After we killed the Dark Lord. She was going to die if I didn’t get her to Hell. Lilith offered to take her there but.” Like Hell was Nick trusting that woman. He didn’t doubt for a minute that if he had they might never have seen Sabrina again. 

Ambrose couldn’t fault him for not trusting Lilith. She hadn’t exactly endeared herself to any of them with her waffling loyalties. 

“I offered it anything to help her,” Nick continued. And he’d meant it. He would have given his own life for Sabrina, and in a way he had. But at least this way he got to live it with her. 

Ambrose tapped a finger against his lips as he took in what Nick had said. “You tied yourself to it. Willingly.”

Nick nodded. “Just like she did to save everyone.”

“You two really are a pair.” Ambrose leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. Self-sacrificing idiots. Though...“Do you resent doing it?”

Nick blinked at the question. “What?”

“Having to sacrifice a bit more of yourself so she could live?” Ambrose persisted. Because that could be bad. That kind of feeling could fester and infect, ruining any love the two had.

“No.” No he didn’t resent having to do that. Living without Sabrina would have been unbearable. As much as Hell terrified him, his love for her overshown it, breaking through those fears when she was tucked against him at night, breathing, _alive_. “But I don’t know how to live there.”

Ambrose nodded. “I don’t think Sabrina does either.”

“But we’re going to have to figure that out.” Nick looked off, feeling Hell call for him, that constant pull back, stronger than it had been yesterday. “Soon.” 

They weren’t going to be able to push it to two weeks like they had wanted.

He looked over at Ambrose. “She’s not going to be able to do it until she knows all of you are going to be okay.” Because he knew Sabrina. It didn’t matter that they had already packed a few boxes of her things and hidden them under the bed, ready to go when they did leave for Hell. She’d need to make sure her family and mortal friends could keep going, that they were happy before she could fully accept the responsibilities that needed to be taken on. 

“I know.” And so did their aunties. It was a conversation they needed to have later with his cousin, but first he’d wanted to ensure Nick would be alright there as well. Because Ambrose knew Sabrina wouldn’t be able to live there on her own without all of them, but maybe, with Nick the two could carve out a life in the kingdom that claimed them.

* * *

It was eerie to see the remnants of the theater, only a few walls having managed to truly survive the fire that had been set by the people of the town. The marquee leaned against one of them, blackened and charred; no amount of elbow grease would make it shine again. The spell for everyone to forget had worked like a charm, but there were little reminders of everything that happened, of all that had nearly been lost scattered around the town. 

Sabrina had seen her first movie in that theater. She’d seen her last one with Nick months back, at a time when life hadn’t seemed so complicated. Or at least not as complicated as it had become. She pushed back the tendrils of Hell that seeped forward, demanding her attention, calling her to return, desperate to focus on the world around her. 

“You are seriously dragging down the atmosphere with that frown, Brina,” Theo teased as he sat down beside her on the bench, handing over her ice cream.

“I still can’t believe it's gone.” She nodded toward the theater. 

“They’re going to clear out the area and build a new one in its place,” Harvey assured her. “We might even get reclining seats now.”

“And a new slushie machine!” Theo grinned. One that had more than one flavor. 

Those both should have been good things. How often had they complained about the seats and the lack of slushie variety? But it left Sabrina feeling hollow, pieces of her childhood gone, eradicated and never to be replicated. She’d wanted it there still, for her friends to be able to go there and remember the times they had enjoyed together. As much as she wanted to deny it, Sabrina knew she couldn’t ignore Hell forever.

“I heard they might even put in two screens,” Harvey added and Theo nodded. The possibilities were endless.

“We should have gotten water to go along with these,” Roz sighed, taking another lick of her ice cream.

Harvey rose, Theo following suit, ready to head back to the shop to pick them up. “We can get some. One for everyone?”

“Please.” Roz smiled, hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun as she looked up at the two. She waited until they were gone before turning to face Sabrina. “Just because the theater is gone doesn’t mean we’re going to forget all the great times we had there together.”

Sabrina eyed her friend over her ice cream cone. “You’re not even touching anything of mine to have a vision.”

Roz snorted. “Didn’t need one. I just know how you think.”

If anyone did it would be Roz who she confided with about things that the other two had never been privy to. It had always been like that with the two of them. She’d met Theo first, fallen in love with Harvey, but it was Roz who had become her best friend, with her through nearly everything. She was the one she’d called late at night to talk about liking Harvey, the one she’d gone to about falling for Nick, from sleepovers to throwing surprise birthday parties for one another.

Roz reached over, laying her hand on Sabrina’s shoulder. “You’re going to great things, Sabrina. Things that need to happen for that era to come. And it's going to be beautiful when it does.”

Sabrina’s shoulders dropped at the touch, ice cream forgotten as she stared out at the town she’d known all of her life. “I just...I don’t want to lose you guys.”

“You can’t lose us,” Roz assured, giving her friend’s shoulder a squeeze. “Even if you’re gone for months on end. We’re still your friends.”

She looked over at Roz then. “Best friends.”

“Always.” Roz nodded, holding up her hand, pinky extended, waiting for Sabrina to do the same. They linked them, shaking hands that way. 

“I’m just terrified and worried.” Mostly about Nick but about everyone else as well. She was even worried about herself. She was sixteen. What did she know about running Hell? Lilith would be there but that was a whole other can of worms that Sabrina didn’t want to think about.

“Of course you are.” Roz was happy that Sabrina was admitting it though. Her friend took on so much and didn’t share the burden. It was nice to see that she finally was doing so. “It's a big change. It’d be weird if you weren’t, but Nick will be with you, right?”

Sabrina frowned, her brows creasing at the idea of that. “He shouldn’t be.”

Maybe not, but Roz knew that he would be. “Sabrina, there is no way he’d let you go there on your own.”

Sabrina dropped her ice cream into the trash can beside them. It was becoming a mess, her appetite for it gone. “He was tortured there, Roz. That place is full of awful memories for him.” She knew he had nightmares about it still. They would only get worse once they were there. How was she supposed to help him through those when they had to experience Hell day in and day out?

“You’re going to need to figure that out together, but you will.” Roz was certain of it. The two of them believed in one another, cared for each other too much not to. “It’ll take time but you’ll get there. Just trust in each other.”

Sabrina leaned back on the bench, looking over at her friend, arching a brow. “When did you get so smart?”

“I did take on archangels. There was bound to be an amazing side effect to that,” Roz teased and Sabrina laughed, reaching over to hug her friend. They stayed like that for a few moments, breaking apart only as they watched the guys heading back over with bottles of water. “We’re gonna be okay, Brina. Go be who you were always meant to be.”

* * *

Sabrina found Nick in the academy’s library, scribbling away on the pad of paper in front of him, various books about Hell strewn about. Some of the infernal texts from Hell itself were there as well as some of Edward Spellman’s journals. She stayed in the doorway of the alcove he’d taken up residence in, wanting to simply watch him for a moment. He was deep in concentration, his brow furrowed as he paused writing, silently mouthing words as he tried to figure out the one he wanted to use before finally writing it down, his train of thought continuing. 

She nearly turned around to leave, not quite wanting to disturb him, convinced this was the most at peace she’d seen him look in quite some time, but he looked up, spotting her. The way he grinned as he caught sight of her had her breath catching. It still amazed her how he looked at her as though she lit up a room whenever he saw her. 

“Making plans?” she asked as she rounded the table to come sit on the seat next to him. She knew that was what he was doing, looking at the logistics of her 10th circle idea for Hell. 

He leaned forward, fingers brushing her cheek as he kissed her in greeting. “How did your talk with your friends go?” 

Sabrina scrunched her nose. She’d been hoping to avoid talking about that for a little bit, but she really should have known better. There was no hiding anything from Nick. “The boys are still pretty clueless but Roz knows. She says they’ll be okay.”

“They will be.” Nick rubbed her thigh, trying to make the touch soothing as she sighed. “Ambrose came to see me. He thinks you need convincing to go.”

“We both know we can’t stay.” Not with how loud Hell’s call was becoming. “I just…” Her shoulders sagged as she tugged at her fingers. “There’s so much I wanted to do, you know? Prom. Graduation. Finish the Academy. Explore the world with you.”

Nick tugged her over to him, shifting her until she was sitting on his lap. “I know.”

She rested her head against his shoulder, hands curled up against her chest.“And now we just don’t get to do any of it.”

He stroked her hair, feeling that cold rage that always seemed to be burning inside of him now ease up with her in his arms. “Maybe not, but there are other things we will get to do, remember?.”

Sabrina poked his chest. “It's really annoying that you’re the sensible one.”

“Would you like me to be raging with you about all of this?” He laughed as she nodded. “We can still do all of those things--or well, _most_ of those things, Sabrina. It just might not be at the timed schedule that either of us planned.” 

Because they had a realm to whip into shape and run. They had tried to figure out a way to do it while still being on Earth, had racked their brains together every night for the last week to come up with some sort of schedule that would allow them to be in Hell and on Earth. But with everything that had happened, with so many of Hell’s aristocracy dead--it’s main enforcement for each of the circles--and the turmoil they could feel happening below in it because of the Dark Lord’s death they knew it would be at least a year before they might be able to return. 

“And you’re not going to be alone down there.” Which Nick thought was the most important part. Sabrina alone in Hell with only Lilith as any company that she knew was a concept that terrified him. 

“It’d be better if I was,” she muttered and she sighed again, glowering at nothing in particular.

“Sabrina.” He tucked a finger under her chin, lifting it so she would look at him. He spotted the guilt that she quickly tried to cover up. “It isn’t your fault that I’m tied to Hell.” She opened her mouth to counter that like she always did and he moved his finger, pressing it to her lips. “It’s not.”

She rested her head back against his shoulder and he could practically feel her pout. “He’s not there,” Nick continued. Lilith was there though and that was a hurdle he was going to need to handle and work through, but the other woman was valuable to keep around for a bit longer. After that maybe they could banish her to Earth. “He’s gone and he can’t touch either of us again.”

Knowing the Dark Lord could never reach either of them again helped a lot but also knowing that he’d left deep scars in both of them had Nick cursing the man nightly. “If it gets too much though, you need to let me know,” Sabrina murmured, pulling back slightly to look at him. “And we’ll leave, we’ll take a break.” 

“I promise,” he told her, resting his forehead against hers. His hands settled on her hips while hers ran along the opening of his jacket. “We’re going to make it our own, Spellman.” Different from the rage and desolation that the Dark Lord had burned it into. Something that they would be proud of ruling over together. Still a place for the damned to reside out their eternity but not all who were denied entry to Heaven deserved torture and brimstone. 

She kissed him then, slow and full of promise. As much as she wished he wasn’t bound to Hell with her, Sabrina had to admit that knowing he would be there with her, that they would be managing everything together, was the only way she was able accept that she needed to walk away from everything she’d known and complete the bargain she’d made for everyone she loved to live. It was the only way she could see herself not being lost to that place and the power that ran through it, corrupting everything in its own way. 

Nick deepened the kiss, sliding his hands under her shirt, needing to touch her skin. She moaned at the contact before shifting slightly so she could kiss along his jaw, moving to nibble at his ear, causing him to groan. 

“There is only so long Hell will tolerate your absence, children.” Lilith’s voice had the two of them pausing their movements, drawing slightly back from one another so they could spot her in the room. 

She offered up an unpleasant smile. “And its residents want to meet the new…” She motioned toward him. “Whatever we’re referring to you as. I’d suggest prince consort so you remain the one with the most power, Sabrina. It never works well for a Queen when a King steps into power.” Lilith nodded toward the books. “Look at history.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “We’re coming down in two days.”

“For how long?” Lilith watched the two closely, noting the warlock’s chilly reaction to her.

Nick glared at her. “We’ll let you know.” Better they know that information and not her.

Lilith crossed her arms, regarding him coolly before focusing again on Sabrina. “I’ll have the rooms prepared for you.”

“ _Room_.” Sabrina corrected, catching one of Nick’s hands so she could link their fingers together in solidarity. “We stay together.”

“Of course.” Lilith grimaced at the gesture, unable to cover her jealousy for the briefest of moments before nodding at them. “I’ll see that it's done.” She left in a whirl of Hellfire. 

“Tell me again why we need her?” It was Nick’s turn to pout and Sabrina pressed a brief kiss to his mouth.

“Because she knows who everyone is and we need that knowledge at first. I don’t think she’ll want to stay for long though.” Not with how Hell had treated her, not with how it had chosen the two of them over her. “She can get a second chance out here. No more Dark Lord whispering in her ear, demanding things of her.”

Nick wasn’t sure Lilith would do anything worthwhile with such a chance given to her, but she had helped him save Sabrina; he could live with her getting one. While still being ready to happily destroy her if she ever threatened Sabrina’s life. 

“She did bring up a good point though,” Sabrina murmured and he looked back at her. “I want us to be equals, but what do you want?”

He wanted for them to never have to step foot down in that place ever again but that wasn’t going to happen. “The Plague Kings were kings.” 

And they had been below Lucifer. He wasn’t even sure that Queen was enough for Sabrina’s title. It still associated her with what the Dark Lord had wanted for her in everything. He had claimed that she would be his queen and rule beside him. She deserved more than that. They both did. 

Nick nodded toward the table, lifting up the book he’d been working through to reveal two tarot cards. “Emperor. Empress. They always work better as a pair. Complimenting one another and reeling in each other’s more volatile tendencies.” Just as she helped quell his rage and he hers. Something that Lucifer had never had, his own emotions allowed to wreak havoc on everyone and everything for eons.

Sabrina picked up the cards, turning them over in her hands as she contemplated his words. Balance. Wasn’t that what it had always been about, what everyone had kept saying to her? “I like it.” She dropped the cards back onto the table before crossing her arms at the back of his neck. “Though I’m still going to just call you Nick.”

Nick leaned forward, grinning as he pressed a quick kiss to her nose. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Spellman.”

She captured his lips with her own after that, willing the doors to the library to lock, privacy ward snapping into place. They had earned a brief reprieve.

* * *

It wasn’t a meeting that Zelda had ever wanted to have happen. Her goal had always been to protect them, to keep them together, for them to remain safe and sound. But that goal had always been lofty, torn asunder too many times throughout the years. From Ambrose’s parents' deaths to Edward and Diana’s and now with Sabrina and Nick and the roles they needed to play. She looked at everyone from her spot at the fireplace, surveying their little family unit, two additions in the form of Nicholas and Prudence, no doubt with a third on the horizon if Dr. Cerberus’ constant presence over the last week was any indication.

She took a long drag from her cigarette, needing the nicotine to calm her, before finally clearing her throat to get the various conversations that had been happening to stop. They all looked at her, waiting for her to start. All but the youngest two were aware of what this gathering was about. 

She focused her attention on Nick and Sabrina, flicking ash into the tray she’d placed on the mantle. “We know you can’t stay here any longer. There’s so much you need to do. Both of you.”

Nick and Sabrina looked at one another before nodding. “We were thinking a week here and then a week down there,” Sabrina started as she looked back at everyone. “And just keep alternating.” It was better than the one day in Hell, the rest of the week on Earth scenario that she’d been granted at first, but the two also knew it was highly unrealistic.

“Sabrina,” Zelda pressed her lips together, trying to come up with how to explain all the reasons that wouldn’t work now.

“But we know it wouldn’t work. Not for what needs to be done,” Sabrina continued, attention turning to her aunt. 

Zelda’s mouth formed an almost perfect ‘O’ as she took in what her niece had said. It seemed that they did not need to convince the two after all. She left her cigarette in the tray and headed over to the couch, taking up the empty space on the other side of the girl. “We never wanted you there. Especially not alone.” She took hold of Sabrina’s hand, image be damned in that moment, giving it a squeeze as she looked over at Nick. “But you won’t be now.”

“You’ll visit?” Sabrina asked, tears pricking at her eyes. 

“Oh we already started marking dates on the calendar,” Ambrose informed them. “Separate visits and joint ones.”

“We’d like our own designated room,” Prudence added, perched on the arm of the chair Ambrose was occupying. “None of this sharing the same one that the aunts use when we’re not there.”

“Of course, Pru.” Nick shook his head at her, not at all surprised by the request. 

“I was expecting you to balk at this idea,” Zelda continued, wiping at Sabrina’s cheeks.

“We’ve kind of been discussing it for the last week,” Sabrina told her while Ambrose snorted, shaking his head at Nick.

He pointed at the other warlock. “And you let me go on and on earlier today.”

Nick shrugged. “I promised we’d talk to you guys together.” And he wasn’t about to break a promise.

Hilda waved Nick off the couch, moving to occupy his seat so she could pull Sabrina into a hug. “When do you think you’ll be going?” 

“We’re leaving in two days,” Sabrina murmured as she hugged her aunt tightly back.

“So soon?” Zelda asked, reaching over to stroke the girl’s hair.

Hilda pressed a hand to her chest as she drew back, rising. “I need to make a big dinner then. And breakfast for tomorrow and the next day. We’ll have all of your favorites.”

“I’m getting her tonight for a bit of constellation watch,” Ambrose called out, looking pointedly at Nick and then Sabrina.

Nick held up his hands. He wasn’t going to fight that. “Gives Prudence and I some time to talk.”

Prudence eyed him carefully. “Please don’t expect some weepy goodbye.”

“I figured we could go over your list of demands for your guest room in Hell.” Nick grinned, knowing that would be more along her line of thinking, pleased that she nodded her approval. He’d need to go see some of the other students as well while Sabrina was getting her last night in with her cousin and aunts. 

“When will you leave?” Zelda asked, breaking up the over eager planning.

“Not until Wednesday afternoon.” Sabrina figured that would give them enough time to see everyone one last time. “We need to head over to Nick’s family home to pick up a few things after we say goodbye to all of you.” To pick up a few things he wanted from the place as reminders of his family as well.

“I’m going to start on dinner,” Hilda murmured, bending down to kiss the top of Sabrina’s head before heading off toward the kitchen.

“You’re going to need several sheets of paper for my demands, Nicholas,” Prudence started as she rose, indicating for him to follow as she left the room. Nick looked over at Sabrina, mouthing an ‘I love you’ before following after his friend. 

Ambrose headed over to the couch, taking up the spot that Hilda had vacated as Zelda leaned back, hands on Sabrina’s shoulders. “I’m so proud of you,” her aunt murmured, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

“Thanks, Auntie.” Zelda tucked the girl’s hair behind her ear before rising and heading into the kitchen to help Hilda with the meal.

Ambrose rested his feet on the coffee table as he leaned against his cousin. “You’re terrified, aren’t you?”

Sabrina let out a sigh as she nodded. “Oh yeah. Big time.”

“But doing it anyway.” Which didn’t surprise him at all. Sabrina had never been one to back down from a challenge.

“Yeah.” She looked over at Ambrose, needing to see his expression.

“If anyone can do this, it's the two of you. You’re both stubborn enough not to let anything stop you.” He wagged his eyebrows at that causing her to roll her eyes.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.” 

He bumped his shoulder into her. “You should.”

She bumped him back. “I’m going to miss you.” 

Ambrose pulled her into a side hug. “If you don’t think I’ll be popping in every other day to annoy you then you do not know me at all, cousin.”

“Promise?” she looked up, searching for the sincerity in his expression, smiling when she found it.

“Someone has to keep you informed of the gossip.” He bopped her nose after, causing her to laugh before resting her head against him again, happy to simply exist in her childhood house with her cousin for a little longer.

* * *

Nick placed one more framed photograph into the box. He might not have as many as Sabrina did back at the mortuary, Hell’s minions ensuring they were being transferred to their room there, but everything going into this box was carefully selected, pieces of a childhood he was still slowly remembering. He wiped his finger along the black and white photo of his mother, brushing away the dust that had collected on it before setting it beside the one of his father. 

“I got the books you wanted.” Sabrina set them down on the table beside him as she sat down on the couch next to him. He hadn’t been able to enter the library still, not wanting to see the spot where his mother had drawn her last breath. There had been books of hers that he’d wanted those, ones that reminded him of her and his father’s voices, of happier times. 

He pressed a kiss to her cheek before adding the final photograph. There was a similar one back at the mortuary in one of those boxes, the one that Sabrina had taken for him the last time they were there, but Nick figured it couldn’t hurt to have more than one of him with his parents. 

“Ambrose is going to check on here from time to time,” Sabrina told him as Salem jumped up to try and fit into the box as well. She shook her head at her familiar. At least someone was having fun. “He’ll make sure everything is okay here.”

Good. Nick didn’t want it to fall even more into disrepair than it already had. “You ready?”

Sabrina shook her head. “No. Not really.”

“Me either.” He pulled her to him, kissing her forehead. She leaned against him, hands curled into his jacket as they both took deep breaths. “We can do this.”

“Together,” Sabrina murmured and he nodded. 

Nick captured her lips with his own, his hands cupping her cheeks as hellfire started to swirl around the two of them and the box with Salem readying to take a nap, whisking them away to start the new length of their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last full length chapter. I'll post the epilogue later this week that's set a few months in the future to give a look at how things are going.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, everyone.


	24. Chapter 24

_Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.  
If one only remembers to turn on the light.  
_

Zelda leaned back against the chair, ignoring the half drunk cup of tea in front of her as Hilda hummed another Christmas song. It was infuriating, the sound of it grating on her last nerve, but she swallowed her irritation, reminding herself to enjoy the days her sister was at the mortuary and not at that ramshackled place that her fiance considered an apartment. She eyed Hilda who was busying herself with another batch of cookies, trying to decide how best to get her to make some blueberry scones as well without coming outright and asking it.

Not that any of it mattered. There was little point to the baking and even less to the decorating that they usually would be in the middle of. Not with Sabrina in Hell and missing out on the festivities. Ambrose had brought up picking out a tree when he’d arrived back from his latest trip with Prudence yesterday, but Zelda had quickly put an end to that conversation. There would be no decorating and no reading of A Christmas Carol around the fireplace either. They could light the yule log and then get on with it. 

She had no issue with being compared to Ebenezer. 

“Where’s the Christmas tree?” a voice called out and Zelda scoffed at the very thought of it.

“Sabrina, how many times do I need to remind you not to call it that-- _Sabrina_!” Zelda rose, realization dawning in that moment that she truly had heard her niece’s voice. Hilda spun around as well, hand pressed to her chest, hopeful that their ears weren’t messing with them, the two heading out into the living room. 

They found her with Nicholas and Salem in the middle of the living room, directing a few minions on where to set down various presents and suitcases. “I said we were going to come for the Winter Solstice,” Sabrina reminded, as Hilda drew her into a hug.

“You said you’d try,” Zelda pointed out as she moved forward as well, hugging the girl as Hilda moved onto Nicholas. 

“Like we were going to miss Solstice with you guys,” Sabrina murmured, enjoying the feel of her aunt’s arms around her. It had been far too long since they had seen each other. “I told Ambrose to let you know.”

“We thought it'd be better as a surprise,” Ambrose replied as he bounded into the room with Prudence at his side. He pulled Sabrina away from Zelda as Prudence headed for Nick. “She wouldn’t let me pick out a tree. Running for full on Scrooge mode this year.”

“We’re good now,” Nick told the minions, nodding for them to head back to Hell. 

“Ordering around demons. My my, how far you’ve come,” Prudence teased, touching his shoulder before taking a seat. She didn’t do hugging. 

Salem headed off from the group, intent on surveying the household and seeing if there was anything new to hunt. Sabrina sank down onto one of the couches, Hilda and Zelda following her and sitting down on either side of her. “How long are you here for?” Hilda asked, holding onto one of her hands. Zelda kept picking at Sabrina’s long sleeve shirt, her own method of keeping up contact. 

“We’ve got a week,” Nick told them as he took a spot on the other couch, Ambrose and Prudence joining him. 

Sabrina’s eyes widened as she remembered the other directions she’d given her cousin when he’d been visiting Hell the month prior. “Please tell me you at least let Roz, Harvey and Theo know, Ambrose!” 

Ambrose made a face, one that implied he’d forgotten and she narrowed her eyes, ready to hex him, before he shrugged, mischievous smirk settling on his face instead. “They’ll be over tomorrow.”

She threw one of the pillows at him. “Children,” Zelda admonished but there was hardly any bite to it as she looked over at Hilda, catching her sister smiling at her. The mortuary finally felt like home again. 

“How’s the coven?” Nick asked as Salem returned, hopping up to settle onto his lap. 

“We hear the praying and stuff every so often but how is everyone there?” Sabrina added, looking over as Nick began stroking her familiar’s head. She couldn’t help but smile, her adoration apparent enough for Prudence to groan at the scene. 

“They’ve gotten worse,” Prudence muttered to Ambrose. “At least they’re sitting apart and not doing that constant touching thing.” Ambrose draped his arm over her shoulders, earning himself an elbow in the stomach. 

“And we want to hear about your time in Russia.” Nick looked over at Prudence then and the other witch’s smile turned wicked.

She rubbed her hands together as Ambrose massaged his side. “I cannot wait to fill you in on Ambrose nearly getting mauled by a bear.”

“Mauled by a bear?” Hilda pressed a hand to her chest, heartbeat speeding up at the idea of it.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Ambrose assured, giving Prudence a look that she ignored.

She leaned toward Nick, laughing as she recalled the event. “It was rather hilarious.” 

“It appears we’ll have quite a bit to chat about then.” Zelda looked around at the group. “Ambrose, go get the boxes of decorations. Hilda, I believe we’re going to need something besides cookies for dinner.”

“I mean I’d be good with cookies for dinner,” Sabrina butted in, grinning as her aunt tsked her. 

Hilda reached over, giving her another hug before heading off toward the kitchen. “And invite Cee if you’d like,” Zelda called out, ignoring the extra bounce to her sister’s step at her comment. 

Ambrose and Prudence headed off as well, toward the attic to retrieve the boxes of decorations, leaving Zelda with the two and Salem who looked intent on staying curled up on Nick’s lap for the foreseeable future. Zelda waved her hand, closing both entrances to the room to give them some more privacy for a few moments.

“How are you both really?” She knew the arduous task of trying to create something new from the ashes left behind. She had been doing it for centuries with her family and then again with the coven and the Academy. 

“We’re good Aunt Zee,” Sabrina assured as she shifted on the couch, tucking her legs under her to get more comfortable. She glanced over at Nick, smiling at how relaxed he seemed in that moment. Usually she only saw glimpses of that when they were in their chambers and away from the rest of Hell. “Happy to have a break. Funnily enough demons aren’t the worst part.”

“No, that would be the covens.” Nick shook his head. He hadn’t been too surprised by that. Witch society was mired in a misogynistic, patriarchal belief system that they were working to break down. “Present one excluded.”

Zelda coughed, attempting to hide her smile. “Yes the new doctrine you doled out made quite the uproar in the various covens.”

“One of my favorite things was showing up to tell the new Antipope and council that if they continued to treat witches as lesser that they would find their own abilities dwindling to nothing while their witch brethren’s powers would triple.” Sabrina tilted her head, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

“The sputtering was pretty amusing,” Nick added as he remembered the moment.

“And they kept trying to defer to Nick and he just kind of sat back and shook his head at them.” They had each other's backs, no matter the situation.

“I wasn’t about to take over your justified rant,” Nick told her as a crash was heard upstairs, followed by Ambrose and Prudence squabbling. “I better go help.” He laid Salem down on the couch, pausing to lean over and press a kiss to Sabrina’s head before heading out of the room.

Salem whined at the loss of contact before moving to get comfortable on one of the pillows instead. “It’s hard work,” Sabrina continued, knowing Zelda would want to know more. “There’s a lot of pushback for some things that we’re working to institute, but they’ve realized we’re not backing down and the changes are happening. And Nick and I are carving out a life for ourselves. It’s not work 24/7. We’ve made sure there’s time for just us.”

“Good.” Zelda reached over, tucking strands of hair behind her niece’s ear. It was little over a year since Sabrina had signed the Book of the Beast and yet the difference between the girl she had been then and the young woman she had become was astounding. “Don’t let them take an inch.”

“I won’t.” After all, everything she’d learned about leadership she had learned from her aunts. 

There were more shouts from upstairs and Sabrina shook her head. “I’ll go.” 

Zelda watched her leave before turning her attention to the familiar snoozing on the couch. They looked happy, truly happy, not a false sense of pretence to showcase for the rest of them to assuage the fears everyone had. As Nick and Ambrose descended the stairs with several boxes between them, laughing about something Prudence was saying before she handed Sabrina the tiny box she had been carrying, Zelda let out the breath she’d been holding.

They were okay. Better than okay even.

“Honestly, all of you. It’s as if you want me to get a headache,” she chided as they brought the boxes into the room. Ambrose paused, pressing a kiss to her cheek, grinning brightly as he pulled away, setting the boxes down.

“Did you get the ax?” Sabrina asked as she set down her box as well.

“Why do we need an ax?” Prudence asked, looking between all of them. It took effort not to grin as they all were and she eased up on hiding it, slowly embracing that feeling of family that she always seemed to get from the group. 

“We have to get the tree,” Sabrina explained, gesturing to the area where it would need to go.

“I hope you’re ready for this at least three hour process, Nick,” Ambrose laid his arm around the other warlock’s shoulder. “Possibly longer depending on how picky this one decides to be.”

Sabrina pressed her hands to her hips, glaring at her cousin. “It’s not my fault that we need to pick the _perfect_ tree.” 

“I’ll make sure the room is rearranged to accommodate it before you all return,” Zelda assured as the younger warlocks and witches headed toward the door, Sabrina trying to explain what she meant by perfect tree with Ambrose adding in his own commentary.

“Don’t forget your jackets!” Hilda called from the kitchen and Zelda headed that way to join her sister. 

Zelda took a seat at the table, pleased that Hilda sat down beside her. “We did good.” She reached over, taking hold of her sister’s hand. She knew she didn’t need to mention that she meant in regards to Sabrina. And even with Ambrose. 

“We did,” Hilda agreed, giving her sister’s hand a squeeze.

* * *

Nick moved to stand behind Sabrina, wrapping his arms around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder, hugging her tightly against him. She had taken a step back from the festivities, surveying her family and friends together in the Spellman mortuary again. Laughter filled the room, a sound that the two of them had grown accustomed to only hearing coming from the two of them, but here it reverberated through the room. 

“They’re happy,” she murmured, placing her hands over Nick’s arms, giving them a squeeze.

“And you?” Nick asked, lips brushing her ear. It had been a difficult few months, there was no sugarcoating the hard work they had been thrust into doing, but he thought they had done well together.

Sabrina moved so that she was facing him, looping her arms around his neck as his hands settled on her hips. Her lips curved into a bright smile, one he couldn’t help but reciprocate as he leaned his forehead against hers. “I am.” 

She didn’t need to ask if he was, she could feel it in the way that he touched her, see it in how he’d slowly become more relaxed as the days had turned to weeks, weeks into months, his nightmares no longer a nightly occurrence. She moved to kiss him, their lips brushing together as someone let out an exasperated sigh.

“Oh come on,” Prudence called out, causing the two of them to turn to look at the others. “You see one another every day. Sabrina, you’re regulated to that couch now. Nicky, you’re here.” She motioned for where the two of them should go. 

Nick kept his arm around Sabrina though, steadfastly ignoring his friend’s directions as he headed over to the couch with her, getting comfortable as Sabrina curled up against him. “I believe it's time for the nightly reading,” Ambrose added, handing over the Spellman copy of A Christmas Carol to Zelda. 

Everyone else settled down into spots while Hilda passed around a tray of cookies. Sabrina glanced around the room as her aunt started to read, taking in each of her friends and family members before settling her gaze on Ambrose. Prudence was leaning her head against his shoulder and Ambrose pressed a finger to his mouth, pleading with her not to point it out. 

Baby steps. 

Nothing had turned out the way any of them might have wanted, but it seemed as though they were all building up lives where they could be happy and alive.

In the end that was all that mattered. That was all she had hoped for any of them.

Tomorrow there might be new dangers to face or burdens to bear but as Sabrina glanced up at Nick, she knew they could make it through it. All of them could. Because in the end, it didn’t matter how far away they might be from one another, how their lives might alter and grow, or how long it might be before they saw one another again, they would always have one another. 

Love, in all of its forms from romantic to familial to friendship, truly had conquered all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap.
> 
> I just want to say a big, huge thank you to everyone who's read this. It's been so long since I was able to write anything and Nabrina was what finally inspired me to write again. Not just write but finish writing a story even. That's always the worry with longer chapter fics, that the inspiration will die out. Instead, I've got a few more stories that I definitely want to tell and hopefully we'll see the two of them united again in Part 4 (a girl can dream).


End file.
